Chapter 30: Tirone: Chapter 31

I lit my first cigarette in months.

The burn in my throat took nothing away from the burn in my heart, though. The Larvins didn’t just go for a clean kill. They toyed with her and Madeline. They fucked my girl’s head, and it tortured her until now. Those fuckers had to fucking die, not just get kicked out of our town, and I had to be the one that sent them to their hell.

“Bandidos are a no go,” Molar grumbled as he joined me on the porch.

I blew out a puff of smoke. “Expected.”

“But they need to get their heads out of their asses and put our differences aside because this is their turf, too, they’re gonna fucking lose.”

“You know how they think they have the bigger cocks out here. They think they’re strong enough to take the mob down on their own.”

“Or they’re waiting to see who will win the coming war and strike a deal with, like everybody else.” He spat. “We need them, Prez. If we’re gonna kill those bastards, we fucking need them. We only have the Wicked Warriors, Hell’s Bastards, the Cruisers and the Untamed.”

“And the Skulls.” I took a long drag. “All of them.”

“All of them? In the country?”

“In the world.”

“But you said don’t tell the chapters in Europe because many of them have business with both mob families.”

“There’s been a change in plans. We ain’t just scaring those shit fucks away.”

He blinked for a second as he grasped what I meant. “Prez…that doesn’t mean only a war with the mob. It’s a war with our own, too.”

“The Night Skulls chapters here and in Europe should be on our side.”

“Loyalty doesn’t go that far when you cut off their business. It’s way easier for them to get rid of one chapter than two mafia families that make them rich.”

“The men that were sent to kill Madeline and Jo didn’t just do it. They were fucking playing with them for sport. Those fucking Larvins put a gun in Jo’s hand when she was eight and told her to shoot her mama if she wanted to live.”

Taken aback, he placed his hands on his hips and looked down. “Jesus.”

“They have to fucking die.”

He popped out his lighter and pack of cigarettes. “If we want the Skulls, we gotta offer them a replacement.”

Light footsteps came behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. Then when I saw Jo’s pale face, I flicked the cigarette in the air and hurried to her.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth, y’all,” Molar snickered.

I rolled my eyes at him as I wrapped an arm around her waist. “What are you doing up, baby? You gotta rest.”

She smiled faintly. “I thought I’d get some fresh air.”

“Not so fresh out here,” Molar said, starting down the yard. “I’ll go poison someone else’s lungs.”

“Always the buzz kill.” She laughed under her breath. “I, not he.”

I helped her to a chair. “No, you’re not. How do you feel?”

“Fine. I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have…”

“You shouldn’t have what, baby? Told me what those fuckers did to you?”

She winced, touching the scar on the back of her head. “I…” Her eyes reddened.

“Hey, you don’t have to talk about it now. Doc said you need to rest and take it easy. You had an anxiety attack. I’m not going anywhere. When you’re ready, baby girl, I’m all ears.”

She inhaled a deep breath and nodded. Then she labored a smile. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“I only quit a few months ago.”

“Because of me?”

“For you.”

“Thank you, but you don’t have to. I don’t have a personal affinity toward cigarettes or lack of thereof because I never smoked before to know.” I loved her mouth that spewed out big words and sucked in my big cock. She licked her lips, spying my lighter and pack in my pocket.

“You wanna try?”

She shrugged with a smile. “If it’s okay.”

I put a cigarette between my lips and lit it. Then I put it in her mouth, my fingers caressing her soft lips. She closed them around the cigarette butt, and it felt better than porn. It wasn’t just having her lips where mine just touched or picturing her mouth around my cock instead of the cigarette that gave me an instant hard-on. It was the idea of that innocent, little girl that was mine to corrupt that was even hotter.

She held the cigarette between two stiff fingers and took a drag. A little too fast. Her face wrinkled as she broke into a wild cough, and I couldn’t help laughing.

“Why on earth,” she coughed, “would anybody want, let alone love, that?”

“When you do it right, you’ll know.” I waited for her to recover and then put the cigarette back between her lips.

She looked up at my eyes so innocently, waiting for instructions.

I leaned in for a whisper. “Suck it. Slowly.”

Flushed, she puckered her lips around the butt and took another drag, slowly as I said, setting me on fire, while the cigarette glowed on her face and in her magical eyes. Then when the white smoke trailed out of her mouth, I was far gone. “Fuck, baby.”

“Did I do it wrong?”

I bit my lip on a laugh “Nah. You did it so fucking right.”

“I still don’t like it, though.”

“I’m too selfish to tell you to stop. You look sexy as fuck when you smoke.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Oh. I thought…”

“What?”

A long sigh lagged out of her chest. Then she put her hand in her pocket and brought out the engagement ring. “I don’t know if you still want me to wear it. I certainly know I don’t deserve it.”

I stared at her for a while, and then I took the ring. She wouldn’t meet my gaze, so I tipped her chin up with my finger. Fuck, she was crying again. She dragged the back of her hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Everything. I’m a liar, a cheat and a fucking threat. You haven’t seen a good day since I set foot here. I’ve made so many mistakes. I hurt you, and now I’m the one crying. I’m pathetic, I know.”

I crouched down in front of her. “Don’t be so harsh on yourself, baby girl. You’re just young. We all did shit when we were young. You’re just too innocent to realize you’re a saint compared to any of us.” I rested her palm on mine and slid the ring on her finger.

She gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Putting this right where it fucking belonged.” I smiled at her. “You’ll never take it off.”

“But, Laius, this is… I can’t believe this.”

“What, you thought I’d leave you?”

“Yes. It’s the right thing to do.”

“When I’m fucking dead, maybe, but even that is questionable. I’m never letting you go, Jo. Even if you grew fucking horns and brought hellfire to burn us all, you’re mine to keep forever.”

Her pie hole agape, she just stared at me. “Look, if you’re doing this to protect me, you don’t have to worry about me. I can change my name and disappear again. They won’t find me.”

“I. Won’t. Let. You. Go. You. Are. Mine. To protect and to fuck. Only mine. You hear me, Jo? Only mine.”

“You can’t possibly want me after all that’s happened.”

I took her hand and put it on my erection. The hiss she gave was pure delight. “Oh, I want you all right. You know what I don’t want?” I wiped her tears with my thumb like I always did. “I don’t want to see any more tears in your eyes. Those fuckers who hurt you and killed Madeline, I promise I’ll rip them in pieces right in front of you.”

“Holy fucking cow! Fuck me if that ain’t a ring.” Fort appeared out of nowhere, pointing a beefy finger at Jo’s hand.

I chuckled while she looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Can…can you please keep it down?” she asked. “No one knows yet.”

“Sure, ma’am,” he snorted. “Y’all! Prez is tying the fucking knot!”

Her jaw fell open as she threw her hands in the air. Laughing, I got to my feet, helping her up, too. Then I folded my arm around her waist, bringing her close. “Giddy up. There ain’t no going back from here. You’re stuck on me, baby girl.”

Men and bitches darted out like bullets, creating the loudest noise I’d ever heard, and I’d revved enough bikes for a lifetime.

I couldn’t tell if everyone was happy about the news, especially the sweetbutts. Many of them were jealous for sure, if not all of them, but they wouldn’t dare show it. They plastered their fake grins on their painted faces and squealed at Jo like they were fucking besties.

“When is the wedding, y’all?” Texas asked.

“About that.” Jo smiled at me. “I think I have an idea.”