Agony: Kings of Rebellion MC #4 Read online

  “Absolutely fucking not!” He growls, making me jump. I wasn’t expecting that.

  “Sketch.” I snap. “I’m guessing you need to be there right now. You’ll only be longer if you take me home.”

  “I’ll take you to the clubhouse then.” He quickly returns and although the clubhouse is closer than my apartment, it still seems silly of him, but then again this is Sketch and he’s always concerned about my safety.

  “Just go to the fucking strip club, I’ll be fine.” I roll my eyes, I don’t understand why we’re having this argument.

  “The clubhouse is only around the corner, I want you safe.” Sketch’s eyes snap towards mine again and instead of annoyance, I now feel sympathy. It doesn’t mean I’m going to cave though. He needs to be there as soon as possible because a raid could have involved anything and anyone could be hurt or scared.

  “Sketch, you need to be there as soon as possible. What if someone is hurt or your brothers need you but you were too fucking late because you were taking me home?” I growl, staring daggers into the side of his gorgeous face. I can see him understanding my reasoning, so I push further. “I will stay in the car, I know you have a gun under your seat and mine.”

  He looks at me in shock and then let’s go a long and stressful sigh. His phone begins to ring again and my brother, Devlin’s name flashes on the screen. I reach for it and answer.

  “We’re on our way.” I say as soon as I hold it to my ear.

  “The fuck!” Devlin roars.

  “Yeah thanks for ruining our date.” I point out, ignoring his anger.

  “D, you better be fucking joking with me.”

  “Look, don’t you start as well. It makes sense because it’s going to take Sketch longer to take me home and then come back. I’m coming and I’m going to stay in the car like a good little girl.” I wait for him to answer, but all I get is a long sigh. “That’s the right attitude.”

  “Just tell Sketch to fucking hurry up.” Devlin adds before ending the call. I smile over at Sketch as he looks over to me.

  “See, told you it was the right choice.” Sketch glares at me and then his eyes return to the road, he doesn’t look happy at all and I knew he wouldn’t be but it’s the right thing to do.

  We slow down as we come to the entrance of Popping Cherries, one of the three strip joints that the club owns. Sketch parks up and as the car engine cuts, he turns in his seat to face me. “I’m going to lock you in, I want you to stay here and wait for me. If you see anything, call me and I’ll be right out.” Sketch’s eyes wander all over my face before he leans in for a harsh kiss. “Please don’t do anything stupid.”

  I giggle, but Sketch doesn’t find it funny at all. “Promise.”

  He gives me one last kiss, whispers that he loves me and hands me the keys. Sketch doesn’t leave until he hears me lock the car and he gifts me with a smile before he walks towards Popping Cherries and disappears inside. The doors look as if it’s swallowed him whole, and I’m left alone in the darkness. The car begins to feel really fucking cold and I begin to feel a little uneasy. I square my shoulders and dare to look around. I can’t see anybody or anything suspicious, but then again the late afternoon lighting has turned dark and I’m not able to see anything from my reflection staring back at me through the window. After looking at myself for a couple of seconds, I turn away and reach under my seat for the gun that I know Sketch keeps under there. I don’t know why, because I’m not in any danger but I’m already starting to feel bored.

  Suddenly, a loud bang comes from behind the car and I jump out of my skin. “What the fuck was that?”

  I look around, trying to see if I can catch anything moving but everything is still and I grip the gun tighter. What if whoever raided the strip club is still here, watching the place and me? With that thought, I don’t like being here alone anymore and I’m eager to be back with Sketch. I decide to stay where I am, because I promised Sketch to stay put but after five more minutes I’m paranoid and bored. Should I just go in there?

  I stare at the door, daring myself to get out of the car and just go in there. I don’t think there’s any danger, inside the building anyway, because I’m not enjoying it very much out here. I feel like I’m being watched, it’s probably all in my head but I don’t want to be alone in this car for a second longer. I take a deep breath, open the car door and quickly make my way to the large double doors of Popping Cherries, hitting the lock button on the car keys as I go. I feel eyes on my back the whole time and it creeps me the fuck out.

  I yank open one of the doors, and try to be as quiet as possible as it closes behind me. I know I shouldn’t be here, but I’d rather face the anger of Sketch than sit in that car all alone for a minute longer. Seeing as though we came here straight from a date, I’m wearing high heeled boots so I try my hardest to not draw attention to me, but it’s not long until there’s crunching under my feet and I look down to see broken glass all over the place. I look around, finding it weird as fuck with no music on. When I’ve been here in the past, the place was full of people having a great time with beautiful women dancing on the stages and the music so loud you had to shout at the person next to you. It’s always busy and the other strip clubs are just the same. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to raid this place and potentially hurt anyone. Could it have been a jealous ex of one of the dancers who work here?

  I enter the main area, where you can see the two stages that are currently empty, but what horrifies me is the blood. It’s on the stage area and even on the floor right next to where I’m currently standing. What the fuck happened here? I’m beginning to feel really worried about what’s happened here and to the club, but I’m also pissed at Sketch and the rest of them for keeping something from us. We know not to ask too many questions, but when our lives are potentially in danger then we all deserve to know what’s going down. Especially after what the club has gone through in the past.

  I begin to hear voices from one of the back rooms, I know the men belonging to those voices very well and all of them sound real fucking pissed. I make my way closer towards them, trying to dodge as much glass and blood as I possibly can but considering how much there is littered all over the place, it’s impossible and I’m dreading the state of my new boots after this. The sobbing of women reaches my ears.

  “This is an act of war!” I hear Devlin yell and it makes me jump back. The cut glass crunching loud under my feet.

  “What the fuck was that?” Comes Sketch’s voice and I freeze. Shit, now I know I’m going to be in trouble.

  Loud footsteps come my way and I look around helplessly, there’s nowhere to run or hide. So I stand tall, crossing my arms over my chest and act like I belong. They have their guns pointed towards me as they charge in, but as soon as they see it’s me they lower them immediately.

  “Drew?” Sketch asks. “What the fuck happened to you staying in the car?”

  “Shit!” Devlin shouts. “I knew this would happen.”

  “You shouldn’t be here baby girl.” My dad marches over, kissing me on the forehead before giving me a disapproving glare.

  “I wasn’t going to stay in the car for a minute longer.” I argue. “It’s cold and I was bored.”

  Sketch comes over to me, wrapping his arms over my shoulder. “You scared baby?”

  I thump his side. “Fuck no.” He gives me a look that tells me that he doesn’t believe me. “I heard some strange noises.”

  My dad signals for two of his men to check it out. “Well, looks like the place is clear. Drew, make yourself useful and check in on the girls.”

  He gestures to where I can hear the sniffling and I make my way over, a prospect following me to make sure I’m safe. I see two of the dancers, crouched on the floor and both of them are crying into their hands.

  “Hey girls.” I approach them carefully. I’ve had experience with damaged and upset women whilst I’ve grown up in the club, so I’ve learnt how to deal with them. They both look at me, both of them brunette, one blue eyed and the other’s brown. I recognise the brown eyed one, her name is Suzy and she comes into the club every now and then. She’s not exactly a bunny, but she may as well be.

  “Hey Drew.” Suzy sniffles, holding her silk gown tightly around her. At least they’re both covered. I notice that she has a splash of blood on her cheek and I ask the prospect to grab something to wash her face with.

  “How we doing?” I ask them, glancing back at the men after hearing them mumbling between them. I don’t mind making sure Suzy and her friend are ok, but my dad obviously gave me this task so that the men can talk amongst themselves.

  We all freeze as a gunshot sounds. The girls shriek and cuddle up to one another. Sketch, Devlin and my dad hurry towards me as more shots are heard, their backs to me and their guns aimed high, waiting for anything to happen. The doors open and heavy feet approach. I release a sigh of relief when Duke and Ryder appear, their guns in hand.

  “Drew was right, three men were out there but they shot at us and ran.” Duke informs and my dad doesn’t look happy.

  “Fuck!” He shouts.

  “They were fucking watching us Prez!” Ryder growls, obviously furious.

  Sketch turns to look at me, fear written all over his face. He wraps me in his strong arms. “I’m so fucking glad you didn’t listen to me.”

  I hold him just as tightly. “Me too.”

  “I hate to think what could have happened.” Sketch grumbles.

  My dad approaches, smiling at me as Sketch lets me come up and breathe. “You gonna stop keeping things from the women now?”

  As I tease Sketch, my dad barks orders to get more men out here and to check the perimeter. “We need to check that no other fuckers are still here.” My dad snap
s.

  After all of that crap, I would like nothing more than to go home but safety first and all that. As the men talk, I stand awkwardly and bored. At least if I had my own weapon I could be protecting myself right now.

  Chapter Five

  Drew

  I shiver when I think about what could have happened. I knew I had that weird, tingling feeling at the back of my neck that you get when someone is lurking in the dark and watching you. Sketch is obviously pissed at me for coming into the strip club when I had promised to stay in the car, but I bet he’s also feeling relieved that I didn’t stay put.

  “You gonna talk to me?” I ask him as he drives me home.

  Sketch releases a long sigh. “I don’t know if I should feel pissed, or grateful.”

  I smile. “Let’s just say, you’re happy with me.”

  Sketch shakes his head, trying not to laugh. “I suppose. God my life is gonna be even more stressful with you ain’t it?”

  This time I laugh out loud. “You knew what you were getting into babe.”

  “From the moment you snuck into my tattoo shop and begged me to tattoo that virgin skin.” Sketch reaches for my hand and presses it to his lips, kissing me. “Even though I was terrified Prez was gonna murder me.”

  “No, I knew my dad would be fine.” I point out to him. “It’s my mother you need to watch out for.”

  Sketch laughs loudly. “Yeah, I learnt that pretty fucking quickly.”

  We both laugh together as Sketch parks up next to my apartment. As I get out the car, Sketch rushes out his side and is in front of me before I can even register how fast he got there. Sketch’s hands wrap into my hair and pull me close as his mouth lands on mine and captures me in a spine tingling kiss.

  “Hearing that gun and having you so close to danger like that fucking scared me.” He whispers.

  “I know.” I saw the fear in his eyes. I knew he hated it as much as I did. I don’t like Sketch being so close to danger either, but he’s closer to it than I ever am. “It’s how I feel whenever you’re not with me.” Sketch tilts his head to the side. “I worry.”

  He smiles, gifting me with another kiss and leads me towards the door. “You don’t have to worry ‘bout me darling, I can look after myself.”

  When we get into my apartment, I remove my boots and cringe at the state of them. At the sight of blood stains I drop them to the floor and make a face of disgust. “You owe me new boots.”

  Sketch laughs. “You decided to come in babe.”

  I go to sit on the sofa, trying to wrap my brain around why someone would do this to the club. We have no known enemies other than the Devil Spawn and I thought all of that was done with, but could they be really be behind this? Why would raiding a strip club be something that they would want to do, considering everything they have done in the past?

  “Would you tell me if the Devils are back?” I ask Sketch as he joins me on the sofa. His face immediately clouds over, hiding any emotion from me. “I guess that’s a no.”

  Sketch sighs. “Look, you know I can’t tell you babe.”

  This has my back up. “But if the Devils are back and causing shit again, me and the rest of the women in this club deserve to know.”

  “I aint’ arguing with that darling.” He admits, which makes me feel a little better. Not completely, but at least he sympathises with my situation.

  ***

  A week later, we’re all at the club house after eating a huge Sunday roast. All of the women prepared it whilst the men had their private Church meeting. It was good to speak with my mum and Aunt June about it because they have their suspicions too. My mum doesn’t want to believe anything too bad is coming, but she can’t be blind to everything that’s going on around us and more and more people are beginning to see what I have from the start. Even the club bunnies are starting to feel on edge.

  “If it’s those bastards again, I don’t know if I’ll make it through this time.” Aunt June admits as we put away the dinner dishes. I feel really bad for her, when Elise was taken by the Devils she had a really tough time with it.

  One of the club bunnies, Busty is here helping to wash up. “But, the Devils are all dead, right?” She asks, her blue eyes large from fear.

  “Honestly,” I answer her. “Nobody knows.”

  She quickly looks down at her hands as she scrubs a plate and decides to stay quiet. The Twins, Lulu and Poppy then make their entrance with dishes in their hands, talking about their double date next weekend.

  “Does your Dad know about this ‘amazing date’?” My mum asks them, quoting their words as she follows. Lulu looks away, busying herself with carefully placing the plates beside Busty while Poppy shakes her head.

  “No, we were going to tell him today but,” Poppy stops, not knowing her excuse. I wrap an arm around both twins, looking at my mum.

  “Leave them alone mum,” I give them a gentle push and they hurriedly rush out the door.

  “They need to tell him Drew.” She points out, giving Busty a wide birth. She’s never liked the company of a club bunny, apart from Maci of course.

  “I agree, but you shouldn’t be scaring them.” I shamefully point at her and Aunt June laughs.

  Maci and Lauren join us, bringing in more dirty dishes and I hear Busty moaning from her place in front of the sink. Maci goes to join her and helps dry them while I begin to put them away in the cupboards. I nudge Maci with my hip and she smiles.

  “We’re going to be ok, right?” She asks quietly, so quiet that nobody else hears her.

  I try to give Maci my bravest smile, but by the worry in her eyes I see that I’ve failed. “We’ll all look out for each other.”

  I don’t know what’s happening, none of us do apart from the men so I don’t want to lie to her. “Did you speak to your dad about us carrying?” She asks.

  I quickly glace over to my mum to make sure she’s not up to her usual tricks and trying to overhear. Thankfully, she’s too busy talking to Lauren and my Aunt June. “Not yet, but he knows I want to talk about something, so I think he’s purposely avoiding me.”

  Maci smiles. “He knows you well.”

  After we’ve cleaned away all the dinner pots, we escape the kitchen and I return to Sketch. The sight of him playing with little Connor melts my heart and I quickly join them.

  “Hey Connor.” I smile at my gorgeous nephew. He reaches out to me and I join in their little game of roll the ball. I look up and see Sketch watching me with heated eyes and it makes me blush. Connor yawns and he makes an adorable little noise when he does. “You sleepy Connor?”

  He nods his chubby head and I scoop him up in my arms. Connor reaches up and plays with my nose, a habit that he does when he’s tired. I wriggle my nose, making him laugh and Grim approaches, taking him away from me. I frown at my biggest brother, and he laughs in return. “We gotta take this little guy home.”

  “Fine.” I sulk, leaning in close and giving my nephew a kiss goodbye. Lauren grins wide as she comes over to cuddle me, saying our goodbyes. “Look after that gorgeous boy.”

  Lauren breaks away, smirking still. “Which one?”

  She glances over at Grim holding his son and I feel sick. “Ugh, I meant Connor.”

  “I know.” She laughs, joining her man. As much as her playful comment made me feel unwell, I love watching them walk away together, waving their goodbyes. I’m so happy for my brother that he’s found a woman like Lauren. She’s a good person, but she doesn’t take any of his shit. A perfect combination for the old lady of our future Prez.

  I look around for Elise, she has Madison’s travel cot beside her and that’s no surprise. She keeps it here for when she and Bomber bring their baby daughter with them to the clubhouse. Elise sees me approaching and smirks, watching me as I peak inside the travel cot and see Madison sleeping. I groan quietly so I don’t wake her, although I wish she was awake so I could fuss over her.

  “Sorry.” Elise laughs, teasing me as I watch my beautiful niece sleep.

  “Her eyelashes are so thick and long.” I smile down at her, marvelling at how gorgeous she is. “I’m so jealous of them.”

  Elise giggles. “I know, she gets them from Bomber.”

  I roll my eyes, standing up straight. “Damn men and their fucking eyelashes.” It is true, you might not have noticed it but a lot of men have thick, dark eyelashes and they don’t fucking deserve them.