Bella Jewel - Angels In Leather

I turn to see Colt standing beside me, his eyes hard. I nod, and following him down the hall. We get to my office, and he closes the door once we’re inside.

“What’s up?” I ask, leaning against the desk and crossing my arms.

“Just got a call. There was some trouble in town.”

I narrow my eyes. “Trouble?”

“Bunch of girls were...raped. Some club members.”

I feel my neck prickle. “Club members? Have you motherfuckers been out, and if I so much as find out you’ve put your cocks in someone that doesn’t want it I’ll...”

“It’s Beast, Pres.”

I feel anger swell in my chest. “Beast?”

“He’s fuckin’ with us. The cops know the only MC in town is us, and Beast has made a run for it. You know what’s goin’ to happen if they pull us up? We got that gun shipment in last night. We haven’t moved it on yet. If the cops show up here...”

“That smart motherfucker,” I snarl. “We can’t move that shit right now, it’s not due to be delivered until Thursday. Fuck, we need to get into town and sort out this mess. Now.”

“Most of the brothers are drunk.”

I clench my fists. “You find the ones that can ride, and you gather them. We need to get in and sort this situation. Who rang you?”

“Jake, he’s at the bar down the road. He heard the commotion and asked around. There were three girls raped in an alley about an hour ago. They came into the bar, and the bar attendant is trying to convince them to call the cops. He said there was talk of the local MC’s doing it. People assume it’s us. The cops will be onto it, if they’re not already. We can be expecting a visit if we don’t wrap this shit up.”

“Scrap the fuckin’ bikes, we’ll take the trucks. They’ll be lookin’ out for us. Let’s move.”

Colt nods, and leaves the room. I turn, taking the keys for the trucks from my desk. I shove them in my pockets, and head back out. Colt has six mostly sober guys lined up. Meadow is staring at me, her eyes narrowed. I walk over, putting my hands on her knees. She’s still sitting on the bar.

“Stay here; don’t go. I’ve got shit to deal with, but I’ll be back in a few hours. Go sleep, if you need.”

She nods. “Okay.”

I press a kiss to her lips, and then turn, gathering the men and shoving them outside. I give them a run down on what’s happening as we drive.

Fuck, this is the last thing I need.

* * *

“He still got them out there?” I ask Jake, as my men move around the bar, checking things out.

“Yeah, so far no cops have showed. They’re not really talking, and one is refusing to allow him to call the cops. She copped it real bad. She’s all fucked up and battered.”

“Right,” I grunt, and then turn to Colt. “Let’s get out the back and talk to this guy before he calls the cops.”

We walk as a group through the bar, shoving the girl out of the way when she tries to stop us. We step out back, and see a familiar face soothing three girls. We’ve known Max for a long enough time, that he’s familiar with us and how we roll. Colt’s bar is just up the road, and we’ve always had good communication.

Upon hearing our entrance, Max turns and stares over at us, then he gets to his feet.

“You fuckers come any closer, and I’ll call the cops, but not before I put a fuckin’ bullet in your heads.”

“Pipe down, Max,” I say, my tone bored. “You know we didn’t do this shit.”

“Funny that, because you’re the only bikers that run this town, and these girls know what they saw.”

I turn my eyes to the girls, and I study them. Two of the girls are wide-eyed and confused, and I can tell just by glancing at them, that they’re off their trees. Beast gave them something to confuse them. They’re both blonde, busty, and pretty enough. They’re not beat up.

The third girl, she’s staring at her hands, but I can see her battered face. She’s trembling, and her entire body is rigid. When she finally lifts her eyes, I feel mine widen.

She’s got jet-black hair, long and curly, half way down her back. Her eyes, through, they’re cat yellow. I shake my head, never having seen anything like it. She’s a strange, yet oddly attractive-looking girl, but she’s been through the ringer. Her eyes are puffy and dark, and she has blood dripping from her lip.

“It wasn’t us,” I finally say, turning to Max. “It was Beast and his gang. They’re in town causing shit. Ask your girls here, go on.”

Max turns to the girls. “Were these the men who hurt you?”

The dark-haired girl shakes her head frantically. “N-n-n-no.”

Max narrows his eyes, and glares at me. “Then why are you here?”

“I’m here to clean up the fuckin’ mess that prick left behind. I’m takin’ the girls, Max. I need to sort this out, and keep it away from the cops.”

Max storms over to me, getting up in my face. “They were gang-raped,” he hisses. “You can’t not call the cops.”

I lean in closer, gripping his shirt. “You involve the cops, and a whole new world of trouble starts. You know how that shit goes down, Max. I’ll take ‘em, help ‘em, and then let them go when Beast has been sorted.”

“You know I don’t fuckin’ agree with this.”

“And you also know you get no choice.”

I step past him, and over to the girls. I kneel down in front of the dark-haired girl.

“My name is Axel, and I’m here to take care of you. Me and my boys, we won’t lay a hand on you, but you gotta trust us. We’re gonna take you back. We got some real nice old ladies in our club, and they’ll let you stay with them.”

The dark-haired girl shakes her head, her eyes wide. “No, please.”

“Listen to me,” I say gently, but firmly. “My men and I won’t lay a hand on you or your friends, but we can’t leave you here. You’re not safe, but I promise once you are, we’ll let you go.”

She studies my face, and her eyes glisten with unshed tears.

Then she croaks out, “I don’t get a choice, do I?”

“No, darlin’.”

I’m just dozing off on the old couch in the dining area of the clubhouse when I hear the trucks pull up. I lift my head, but I’m still hazy. I hear doors slam, and a moment later, Axel and the guys come through the door, only they’re not alone. They have three girls with them. Two of those girls look like they’re meant to be models, with their blonde hair and busty bodies, but the last girl looks completely broken. She’s got her dark hair falling partly over her face, and her eyes are haunted. Not only are they haunted, but also they’re the most incredible eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re a stark yellow, and against her creamy, pale skin, they are piercing.

I get off the couch and walk over to them.

“What’s happening?” I whisper to Axel.

He looks at the girls. “Colt, take them to the bunks in the back room. Keep two watches on them. We don’t want them running.”

“You stole them?” I say, feeling my eyes widen.

Axel studies me for a moment, and then he murmurs, “We need to talk.”

He barks a few more orders, and then he takes my hand and leads me down the hall. We go to his office, and he shuts and locks the door behind us.

“What’s going on?” I ask, getting a little worried.

He walks over and drops down onto his chair, and I take the seat beside it. He turns to me, and I see his fingers are biting into his knees.

“Those girls were gang-raped by Beast’s club tonight.”

“What?” I cry, throwing my hand over my mouth.

“We took them, because we don’t want the cops getting involved. I’m not discussing club business with you, but you need to know we’ll be keeping them here until we can sort out something safe for them.”

“You’re helping them?”

He nods, lifting his eyes to meet mine. “Yeah, but listen...that’s not all I wanted to talk to you about. For years now, we’ve been jumping back and forth about why you even had to begin running in the first place. You want to know about the USB, your dad, and the rest of it, and it’s about time I gave you the fuckin’ truth.”

My hands begin to tremble. He’s going to tell me...oh, God.

“O-okay,” I say.

“You gave yourself a part of me tonight. It’s only fair I give it back.”

He jerks his drawer open, and pulls out a flask. He unscrews it and swallows a shot down, then offers it to me.

“Is it that bad?” I say, my voice wavering.

“Well, it ain’t good.”

I take the flask, and shoot it back. Axel doesn’t waste any time; he starts talking right away.

“Basically, to understand this story, you need to know your dad wasn’t a biker.”

I shake my head. “What? He created a club, and...”

“The club was fake, Meadow. Your dad was a cop, and he went undercover in a project that was meant to bring down numerous biker clubs in the area. He created his own club, and he got himself a name. It took years, but he did it. I found out what he did. I overheard him talking one day when I showed up at your house. I confronted him, and we got into it. Things went bad after that, and I constantly threatened to expose him. One day, he set me up. He knew my club was going to be involved in a big shipment coming into town—he had his sources everywhere. He gave Beast’s club an anonymous tip off, knowing they’d show up before us. He knew we were sworn enemies.”

“Why would he do that?” I gasp, unable to process this kind of information.

“He was angry at me, at himself, and he was tired of doing undercover work, and he wanted it over. He figured if two clubs showed up, a war would break out, and he could get what he needed to close us down. Chances were that we’d stuff up, and he could take us over that edge, bringing us down. He had enough evidence against us. He just needed us to fuck up.”

I try to mull this over, trying to process it in my own head. So, my dad set Axel up, and threatened his club. It’s slowly starting to make sense to me now. Slowly.

“So you killed my dad for revenge?” I ask, needing to know more.

His eyes harden, and I know the memory pains him. “It wasn’t just about revenge. It was about him trying to destroy the only family I had. He lied; he let me develop a bond with him, and he fucked me and my boys over. He was going to take us all down. When I got wind that he was headed in to deliver information that would take the clubs down, I knew I had to interfere. Turns out Beast heard about it, too. That’s the way it rolls when you’re dealing with the shit we deal with. Your business is everyone’s. Bikers had begun to hear about your dad, and word leaked about his undercover behavior. He was taking you that day...he was taking you to a different city so you would be safe. He was going to drop you off, then he was going to turn the information in, and go into witness protection.”

I feel my stomach lurch, and tears fill my eyes.

I have so many questions, like how does Axel know all this? He couldn’t possibly know so much just by word of mouth, but I can’t focus on that right now. I just can’t stop feeling the thudding pain in my heart about the news that’s just been delivered to me.

“I went after him,” Axel continues. “And I shot him. I didn’t know you were in the car. I thought I’d had it planned out. I thought he’d dropped you off already, and that you were safe. I saw the car, and I shot him. I thought I’d missed anything vital, and he managed to get into the alley. I didn’t know until a few hours after that you weren’t in a different city, but instead, running with the information that could destroy my entire club.”

“How did you know that I hadn’t been dropped off?” I croak.

He shrugs. “Your dad had a shirt pressed to his wound. He couldn’t have done that himself, because it wasn’t his shirt—it was yours. The information was missing. I made some calls, found out you hadn’t left the city, and I came after you.”

“So what you’re saying, basically, is that my father was a cop, going undercover as a biker, and he set you up to start a war. It went bad, you got hurt, you came back, and you killed him out of both revenge and to protect your club?”

He nods, letting his eyes scan my face for my reaction.

“And he was going to leave me behind?”

My voice cracks, and I turn my eyes down. My father was all I’d had. My mother I couldn’t remember, and there were no other family members in my life. He was all I’d had. He knew he was all I had, and yet he was going to drop me off to a strange city alone, and go into witness protection, never coming back for me. The reality of it makes my heart burn, and tears trickle down my cheeks.