Chapter 18

AVERY

Avery sat on the couch with the TV on for noise hours later, replaying the conversation she had with Kiki over and over.

The man that she was in serious danger of falling for was sleeping with half the damn state.

Then she thought about the Devil’s Reign motorcycle club and all the information she now had.

A 1% motorcycle club and its rules were something she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams. Sex, illegal activities, drugs, violence, and, she was sure, guns.

She was the daughter of a fallen police officer, for Pete’s sake! She was a good girl, a law-abiding citizen, who followed the rules and kept her nose clean.

Did she ever have urges to do something a little naughty? Sure, who didn’t? But she was so strait-laced that even her aunt told her to lighten up and live a little.

Maybe she was a little uptight, but she didn’t want to go to jail or disappoint her father.

Avery was jolted from her thoughts when her phone rang. She looked down and noticed that Justin’s number had popped up.

She ignored it, found the remote, and changed the TV to something else.

Over the next hour, she ignored eight phone calls and four text messages from him. She really had to commend his determination—he wanted to talk to her. But she was ignoring him.

As much as she would have liked to see him one more time, she knew a clean break was the best thing for her.

It was bad enough that she still had to see him because of Lexi, but it would only be for short periods of time. She would just avoid the club’s businesses and she should be okay.

Finally hungry, Avery ordered a pizza and salad from a place close by and flipped channels until she found a movie she liked while she waited for it to arrive.

Finally, a knock came at the door.

She grabbed some cash and opened it to find Cole, the prospect she’d met a few weeks ago, holding her food in one hand and his phone up to his ear with the other.

“She just answered, sir,” he said into the device.

“What the hell are you doing with my food?” Avery asked the man.

“I paid for it, Miss Harper. Mr. Mariner would like to know why you are not answering your phone,” Cole answered.

“Just give me my food and tell your president to go screw himself!” Avery breathed out, hoping like hell that she sounded convincing.

Avery watched Cole put the phone on the pizza box, hit a button, then say, “Go ahead, sir.”

“Avery, baby, what’s going on? Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Justin asked, clearly upset.

Avery glared at Cole, then said, “Because I don’t want to!”

Justin growled low. “Don’t play games with me, Avery. Not when I’m out of town. Tell me what is going on!”

“Just give me my damn pizza! I don’t want anything else to do with you, Justin,” Avery pleaded.

“Baby, why—” Justin started, then Avery cut him off.

“You don’t get to call me that! Not anymore. Not when I know about the road clause!”

Cole’s eyes went wide, and he froze when he heard, “Cole, take me off speaker and listen to what I have to say.”

Avery felt the tears of embarrassment start to fall as she watched Cole pick up the phone and listen to what Justin had to say.

She saw him hand over the boxes, nod sadly, and turn to walk away, taking one last look at her before walking down the steps.

Avery went back inside, locked the door, sat on her couch, and silently cried as she ate some of her food. She knew this was for the best, that Justin Mariner would hurt her or get her in trouble.

It was much better that she knew these things before she ended up more invested than she already was. This would hurt for a few days, but she would manage.

She finished her pizza, curled up on the couch, and fell asleep.

JUSTIN

Justin felt like he had been punched in the gut, and he didn’t like it. He had never been turned down before, and it was a bitter pill to swallow.

The thing that bothered him the most was why she had changed her mind about them.

Who had filled her head with the rules of the club? That was something he was going to do when he got back.

He was enraged. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar at the clubhouse of a brother club up north and stomped outside.

He sat by himself, taking large swigs from the bottle, trying to get his rage to subside as the liquid slid down his throat and burned a little. Another thought occurred to him, and he called his sister.

“Hey, Jus, everything okay?” Kiki asked after picking up, “Lexi is already in bed—”

“Did you talk to Avery about the club?” he asked.

Kiki hesitated. “Why do you ask?”

“Just answer the fucking question! Did you talk to Avery about the club?!” he yelled.

“Yes, I did,” Kiki answered.

“WHY?”

“Two reasons, really. One—she deserved to know what she could be getting into if you continued to pursue her. And two—because she isn’t one of us, Justin.

“The simple fact that Stevo can’t find anything on her is troubling, and the way you are acting around her is freaking everyone out!” Kiki yelled back.

“That’s not your fucking call to make. That’s not anyone’s call to make but mine!” he roared. “I am the goddamn president! What I say goes.”

“I’m sorry, Justin. This is for your own good.”

“Fuck you, Kiki!” Justin growled, and hung up on her.

Justin chugged half the bottle, then threw it as far as he could. He heard it shatter against something, and he started pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair.

“What’s up, Prez?” Mikey asked cautiously, seeing the man pacing like a caged tiger.

Justin stopped and glared at him. “Was it you?”

Mikey looked at him warily. “Was what me?”

“Was it you or my vice president that pushed my sister to call Avery and fill her head with club shit?” Justin demanded.

Mikey licked his dry lips. “I talked with Mitch about my thoughts, and we share the same concerns. He must have talked with Kiki about it.”

Justin was livid and breathing heavily. “I want everyone here for a meeting. NOW!”

Mikey nodded. “That could take a minute. I know Cash and Stevo went in with a couple of club whores.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck if they are both balls deep in some bitch’s ass!

“I want every single one of my table officers in front of me in the next three minutes or we are going to have a BIG fucking problem,” Justin growled.

Mikey turned and rushed back into the clubhouse. Cash was pulling up his pants and adjusting his still-hard dick as he emerged.

Once Justin saw all his men standing around him, he spat on the ground. He took a deep breath to calm his temper before he started in.

“I’m going to say this one motherfucking time, so you better fucking listen and listen good!” Justin spat.

“If ANY of you EVER interferes in MY personal life again, I will not hesitate to put a bullet between your motherfucking eyes. It is MY personal life, and I will take care of it!

“You all have your own personal life, and I don’t interfere. I let you make your own decisions—even if it is dangerous for the club. I’ve had your back.”

“Mikey, remember your little problem with the underage girl? I was there, you dick!”

The guys all started to look a little guilty, knowing that everything Justin was saying was true.

“And how do you repay my devotion to you and the club?

“By talking behind my back instead of to me to get my fucking sister to talk to the woman I want to have something meaningful with to scare the shit out of her so that she wants nothing to do with me!”

“Justin, I’m sorry. I never meant for that to happen. I was just trying to keep Kiki in the loop,” Mitch replied.

Justin glared at him. “Well, your hormone-laden old lady took it upon herself to disclose enough shit about the club and MC life to scare the shit out of Avery, and she wants nothing to do with me.”

“So thank you very fucking much for that!”

“I never told her to do that, Justin, I swear!” Mitch pleaded.

“Oh, I know. I already talked to my dear sister who fessed up that she ran her mouth. And when I asked her why she replied, and I quote, ‘She isn’t one of us.’

“Did any of you stop to think that that is why I like her? Because she isn’t one of us? That she is classy and innocent and fresh and not a whore? That’s what I like about her!”

“And now, because you all took it upon yourselves to decide what is best for me, I am going to lose out on something that might have been life changing!” Justin growled at the men around him.

“That wasn’t the intent, Prez, I swear!” Cash pleaded. “We are just looking out for you and the MC.”

Justin chuckled. “And do you all really think that I wasn’t thinking about the club? With the exception of my daughter, the club has always come first.

“I knew what I was doing and had a motherfucking plan on how to introduce Avery to everything. I know Stevo can’t find much on her, and I had a motherfucking plan for that too!”

“But because NONE of you trusted me or had the fucking balls to talk to me, you all ruined it!”

Justin finished, breathing deeply, his anger and pain very evident to the men.

“Now I am going back to my room, taking a few hits off a joint, and going to sleep. DO NOT disturb me unless it involves my daughter or someone has died.”

Justin started walking away, then stopped and looked at his men sadly.

“I never thought I would see a day when my right hand, my left hand, and my entire table would betray me and purposely hurt me.

“I don’t know what to think anymore…,” he finished quietly, then walked into the building.

MITCH

“SHIT!” Mikey yelled, grabbing his hair.

“What do you think we should do now, Mitch?” Stevo asked.

Mitch sighed. “Keep looking into her when you have time. I have to figure out a way to regain his trust in the table again.”

All the men looked at him, nodded, and went their separate ways.