Nina Levine - Fierce

Fierce is dedicated to my family.

Family isn’t always those related by blood.

I love you all.

Book Cover: Image from Big Stock Photo

Thanks must also go to Louisa from LM Creations for her assistance with my cover.  She is an amazing designer.  Please check her out here: LM Creations

Each book in this series continues on from the previous.  While there won’t be major cliffhangers in each book, there will be parts of the story that won’t be resolved so please be aware of this.  Fierce picks up exactly where Storm left off, and as such I will publish the last chapter of Storm here to refresh your memory as to where it ended.

Madison

Four months later

“So, sis, tell me who all these people are,” Blade said, as he handed me a barbequed sausage on bread.

I angled my head to look at him.  He was a tall guy, and well built.  His eyes were the same colour as our fathers; a gorgeous green.  He had also inherited the olive skin and dark hair that my father had.  I hadn’t met his mother, and I wondered what he had been blessed with from her.

We had been spending time getting to know each other since J and Mandy were shot.  I hadn’t wanted to, but he had pushed the point.  And Blade wasn’t a man who didn’t get his way.  I was slowly learning that.  Why did I have to be surrounded by men like that?  Why couldn’t I have just one man in my life that I could boss around?

I pointed out a couple of the guys and told him a little about each one.  He surprised me with his desire to know me, and to be a part of my life.  Scott was distant to him, and Blade didn’t try to force a relationship there.  Perhaps it would come one day.  Who fucking knew what was in store for any of us?  That was something I had really learnt this year.

“You okay?  Coping with today, without him here?” he asked, watching me intently.

“I’ll be okay.  Don’t worry about me,” I said.

He slowly nodded his head, still watching me, taking it all in.  He was an intense man; sometimes I didn’t know what to make of it.

“Honey, can you help me with the soft drinks for the kids?” my mother called.

I nodded.  “I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a minute.”

Today was a club family barbeque.  Storm had been through a lot this year, and this was a get together to help bring everyone back together; to help the healing process and strengthen club ties.  The fallout from what I liked to call the ‘Mandy Incident’ was bad.  A lot of the boys hadn’t supported Dad and Scott in their desire to back off on her, and there was some lingering resentment from that.  It turned out that J wasn’t the only one who had wanted her dealt with.

Time was slowly healing the wounds, and I had no doubt that the boys would work it out eventually.  What I had had some doubt about was letting Blade into the fold.  He had been spending time at the clubhouse, meeting some of the boys.  I hadn’t been so sure they would welcome him, but they had.  Blade just seemed to have that effect on you.

I left him and wandered into the kitchen to find my Mum.  She seemed to be doing okay these days.  She and Dad were working on their marriage.  Well, I took her word for it because I hadn’t spent time with them together since discovering his infidelity and tendency to hit her.  I hadn’t spent any time at all with my father, and I wasn’t sure when I would be able to bring myself to do that.  I didn’t hate him, but I was still really angry at him.  And I was pretty sure that would take a long time to go away.

“Hey, Mum,” I smiled at her, as I entered the kitchen.

She looked up, and smiled back.  “Hey, honey.  Are you having a nice time today?”

I nodded.  “I miss him, though,” I almost whispered, tears threatening my eyes.

“I know, sweetheart.  But he wouldn’t want you to be sad that he’s not here.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “You’re right.  Come on; let’s get these drinks to the kids.”  I needed to busy myself, and keep my mind occupied.  Otherwise, I would be thinking of J the whole time.  Missing him.

We grabbed the large esky that was full of drinks and carried it outside to the sheltered area where the kids were set up with party food.

A hush fell over the party, and all eyes were on me.  I looked at my Mum, but she was just smiling at me.

And then, I saw him.  My face lit up, and my heart started beating faster in excitement.

J.

I ran to him, and he caught me in a huge hug.

“Fuck, baby, I’ve missed you,” he breathed into my ear.

“I’ve missed you too, so much.  I’m never letting my father send you on a trip ever fucking again.  Okay?”

After J had recovered from being shot, he had confronted my father over the whole ‘Mandy Incident’, and it had ended with them having a huge punch up.  And when I say huge, I mean fucking gigantic.  I’d never seen anyone take on my father like that before.  They had both ended up with broken bones; it hadn’t been pretty.  Dad was so angry at J afterwards that he had sent him on a two month road trip to sort out club stuff that needed sorting out.  Really, I had no idea what club stuff needed sorting out, but J had gone and done his time.  I think it was some sort of club bullshit where you just have to do what the President tells you to do.

He chuckled.  “Yeah, babe.  You tell that to your father.”

“I fucking will,” I threatened.

“Shut up, and kiss me, woman,” he ordered, and I willingly complied.

It was the most amazing kiss ever; full of the love and desire we had for each other.  When we pulled apart, he said, “I love you, Madison Cole, and I am going to spend the rest of my life with you.”

I cocked my head to the side.  “I love you too, J.  But if that’s a marriage proposal, you’ve gotta do better than that.”

He threw back his head and laughed.  God, it was good to hear that sound.  When he finished laughing, his eyes met mine, and a thrill ran through me.  “Mark my words, baby, we’re getting married.  I’ll find a special way to ask you, but for now, you just need to know that my heart is yours.  You’re the love of my life, and I’m never, ever letting you go.”

I sighed; content in the warmth of his love.

I loved this man with all my heart; he had shown me that even though life can be a bitch, love can get you through any storm.

Scott

I killed the engine of my bike and removed my helmet while I surveyed the argument that was currently occurring between Madison and our father.  They both appeared to be past the point of angry and Madison was jabbing her finger at his chest.  It was probably time for me to step in so I left my bike and walked towards the front of the clubhouse where they were.  Madison had her back to me so she didn’t see me coming but Dad did and lifted his chin at me.

“Scott.”  He greeted me, minus a smile.

Madison stopped mid sentence and whipped her head around, her angry eyes narrowing as they landed on me.  “Where’s J?  I thought he was with you,” she said.

“He’s at Indigo sorting out some problems.  What’s going on with you two?”

She scowled and went to answer me but Dad cut in.  “I’ve asked Madison to come over for dinner tonight but she has refused.  With J getting back yesterday, I thought it would be a good time for us all to get together and start to work through this bullshit mess we are in.  You should come too.”  Rather than sounding angry, he just appeared resigned.

“You created this bullshit mess,” I reminded him, “The day you decided not to keep your dick in your pants.  And the day you decided to hit your wife.  Don’t fuckin’ expect us to forget either of those anytime soon.”  I could feel my anger levels rising but fought to remain calm.  He wasn’t worth it.

Madison visibly relaxed and the scowl was wiped off her face.  She turned back to Dad.  “We won’t be there tonight,” she said, quieter now, less angry.  And then she said to me, “Can we talk when you get some time?”

I nodded.  “Sure, I’ve just got some information to share with Dad and then I’ll come find you.  You’re waiting here for J?”

“Yeah.  Thanks,” she replied and with one last look at Dad, she pushed through the front door and left us alone outside.

Dad stared after her for a moment, lost in thought, before addressing me, “I’ve made some bad decisions in my life and I’m fucking paying for them, but this shit with our family needs to be sorted.  Your mother wants it dealt with.”

I shook my head.  “Not gonna happen.  And don’t play the Mum card.  Jesus.” I ran my fingers through my hair and felt the beginning of a headache.  Fuck, I needed a drink, or better yet, some pussy to ease it.  Yeah, pussy always helped.

He contemplated what I’d said and then nodded tightly.  “What do you need to tell me?”

I was over-fucking-joyed that he was moving on and not starting an argument.  “Darrell quit so we need a new manager for Indigo.  J’s there now sorting out staff for the next few days but until we find someone new, J and I will keep it running.”  This strip club was giving us no end of problems lately.

“Good.  Find someone soon though because we need you both for other stuff.”

“Yeah, I heard.  Bullet’s giving you some grief over Blade’s crew?”  I’d heard this from Griff who kept me in the loop these days because I’d been distancing myself from Dad.

“Christ, it’s never fucking ending.  Blade’s ramped up his supply business, stepping on Bullet’s territory.  Black Deeds want me to get Blade to back off.  Coke is their main game and he’s taking from them.  Just cause he’s my son doesn’t mean he’s going to listen to me.  It’s another thing I don’t need to be dealing with at the moment.  So, yeah, I need you around in case shit goes down.”

“I’m not getting involved with Blade.  But if it blows back on Storm, I’m on it.”

“Well stick close cause I reckon shit’s gonna go down at some point.  And think on what I said about our family.  It’s not just your mother who wants it healed,” he muttered before walking away.

I watched him as he got on his bike and took off, and wondered where he was spending his time these days.  It was three o’clock in the afternoon and I doubted he was heading home.  Neither Madison nor I knew if he was still carrying on with Blade’s mother because neither of us had spent any time with him in the last four months.

My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts.  I reached into my pocket and grabbed it out to see who it was.  Lisa.  My neighbour’s kid.  “Darlin’, what’s wrong?”  I answered her without hesitation because she only ever called me when she had a problem.  For a twelve year old, she was surprisingly drama free, so I knew if she called, something was going down.

“Scott, Monty’s sick,” she said, voice trembling.

“What’s wrong with him?”  Monty was her cat; her faithful companion in her shitty life.

“His face is all puffy, like a chipmunk, and he isn’t eating.  He’s pretty much just sleeping all the time and he looks so sad.”

“How long’s he been like that, darlin’?”

“For a few days,” she admitted quietly.

Christ.  “You should have told me straight away.  I’ll be there soon, okay.”  Her mother wasn’t equipped to deal with shit like this and I thought I’d made it clear to her to always call on me, but she was the kind of kid who hated asking for help.

“Okay.  Thanks, Scott,” she said and then hung up.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and entered the clubhouse, searching for Madison.  I’d see what she wanted and then head over to pick up the cat and take him to the vet.

Nash ran into me as I rounded the corner to go into the kitchen.  “Did you sort Darrell’s shit out?” he asked.

“Nope.  The fucker quit instead,” I answered him.

“He’s an asshole so we’re better off without him.”

He was right but it’d left me screwed because now on top of everything else I had to do for Storm, I also had to run Indigo.  “The girls are pleased that he’s gone, especially Velvet.”  She was Indigo’s favourite stripper so keeping her happy was on my agenda.  Darrell was too fucking handsy with the girls and had put the hard word on most of them.  Just because they took their clothes off for a living didn’t give him the right to expect a quick fuck out of them whenever he needed his dick wet.