Page 78 of Snake (Road Rebels MC 3)
“Where is this coming from?” I asked Hunter, and he took a big sip of his beer.
“My guys have noticed women, leaving and entering the warehouse. Beaten up chicks with bruises. The same sort of pattern we’d noticed the last time we busted them,” Hunter explained and I stared at Gunner who had started clenching his fists.
Several months ago, we had busted the prostitution ring that the Dragon Knights were running, we rescued the girls and tried rehabilitating them. A lot of the old lady’s of the older members had come in to help. The Bad Disciples, as an MC, had a firm belief in not harming women or children at the same time as running our business. That was the code that all MCs were supposed to run by, and yet, the Dragon Knights had broken the code in their attempt to make even more money. There was a lot of money in the flesh trade.
“How is that possible?” Glock asked, growing angry.
“What are you talking about, Glock? There are still women around who are vulnerable and can be used for the trade,” Gunner was growing even more enraged by the minute. This conversation was a reminder of what he had rescued Brooklyn from.
“We don’t know anything for certain yet. So it could just be a rumor,” I tried to intervene before Gunner’s rage was started to get out of control.
“My guys have seen these women themselves, hanging around the warehouses that the DKs run. It’s not just a rumor. They could be starting something new,” Hunter went on, not aware that Gunner was stewing in his own rage beside me.
“But we busted them. We destroyed them. They wouldn’t have the balls to start another one, knowing that we could get them again!” Glock was barking now, too proud to admit that we might not have successfully and completely obliterated the Dragon Knights and their flesh trade.
“They might have grown a pair since they started working with the Four Skulls. They have added support now!” Hunter was barking too, defensive of his intel and I banged a fist on the table.
“Shut the fuck up, the both of you. Until we can confirm what we know…about the Four Skulls and the prostitution, there is no need for us to assume anything,” I growled, and Glock and Hunter both seemed to slink back into their chairs.
Axel had assigned me to be the leader of this mission of taking care of our first strike back against the Dragon Knights. So, Glock and Hunter both knew that any ideas would have to first be run by me.
Gunner stood up from his chair, and I watched him walk to the bar counter for more beers. I threw warning looks at the other guys, hoping that they would understand they needed to be more sensitive about the subject around Gunner. Then I stood up and followed Gunner to the bar.
“You okay, brother?” I asked him, and he turned to me with bloodshot eyes.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just happen to know, what getting involved in prostitution and working with the DKs can do to a woman,” he hissed and took large gulps of his beer.
“Brooklyn,” I said, and Gunner clenched his jaws.
“Some days I think that she’s still not fully recovered. She has nightmares of being holed up by them. She’s afraid that they’ll find her some day and make her pay for being with a member of the Bad Disciples, for causing them to be attacked by us,” Gunner continued. And even though he was staring blankly at the wall in front of us, I knew that he was thinking about Brooklyn and how much he wanted to protect her.
Before I’d met Noelle, I might not have understood what he was feeling, but now I knew. Those were the exact feelings I had for Noelle too. Whatever was going on with the Dragon Knights, I was just glad that she was nowhere near all this. I was keeping her safe.
I hadn’t seen or heard from her in over two months, and every night that I laid in bed, I thought about that morning I had woken up beside her. How she’d asked me to make love to her, and how amazing that had been.
It was only after I’d dumped her, that I realized how hard I’d fallen for that woman and forcing myself to stay away from her, was probably the hardest thing I’d done.
“She has our protection, brother. We’re all going to work together to make sure that the Dragon Knights never get near her again,” I reassured Gunner, who nodded his head, still in a daze.
“I know that, and I know I’d take a bullet for her, but she’s still afraid. She still wakes up at night in jitters, and I want to do everything I can to make sure that fear goes away. I’d give my right arm if I could kill each and every DK member who ever touched her,” Gunner was hissing in rage as he spoke, and I reached out and thumped his shoulder.
“We’re going to take care of it,” I said, and still nodding his head, Gunner walked away, leaving me standing alone at the bar with my thoughts. Thoughts of Noelle.
It would be very easy. All I’d have to do would be to go to the hospital and find her. It would take me less than an hour to see her again, and every day, I was overwhelmed by this irresistible urge to just get on my bike and ride to the emergency room. To pull her into my arms and apologize and beg for her forgiveness. I told myself that all I’d need would be one more night with her and then I could move on. But deep down, I knew that wasn’t the truth. She was like an addiction, a bad habit I wasn't able to kick.
But the truth was, that the only reason the Dragon Knights had now stopped tailing me, was because they’d figured out that they had no leverage with me. Without Noelle or a woman or a family in my life, they would have nothing and nobody to use against me. So, my plan had been successful. By dumping Noelle, I had kept her safe, and that was the way I was going to keep it. No matter how difficult it got to stay away from her.
I looked over at the table, and Glock raised his bottle in the air, indicating for me to get back to the group.
When I returned, I was glad, for Gunner’s sake, to find that they had started talking about something else. I sat down and drank my beer quickly, hoping that I could get drunk tonight and just pass out so that I would stop thinking about Noelle.
Around me, my brothers laughed and joked and took jabs at each other, and I tried to follow the conversation. I had no other option but to try and lead my life as best I could, even though it felt like it was half of what it used to be, without Noelle in it.
CHAPTER 16
Noelle
I was ten weeks pregnant now, and I had started to feel tired by the middle of the day. Twelve-hour shifts were becoming even harder to deal with, and most of the time, any chance I got, I tried to rush into the staff room and have a sit-down.
My plan was still the same; to try and work as many twelve hour shifts as I could, till I couldn’t anymore, and it was beginning to seem like that time was fast approaching. I had started to show a little too. My belly had begun to stretch the fabric of my scrubs.
I was hoping that the people I worked with every day, wouldn’t notice right away. However, it was obvious that if someone saw me after a long time, they would see it immediately.
It had already been a couple of weeks since I last saw my parents, and I was still trying to avoid seeing them again for as long as I could manage. The next time I saw them, I would have to tell them what was going on, because it would be so obvious about what was happening.
Now, with an ache in my back, I tried to keep up momentum as I walked down the corridor towards the outpatient ward. It was my turn to deal with some of the patients there, who had come to the hospital for minor problems. I could feel my ankles hurting and my mind swimming a little, as I pushed through the door and stepped in.
I was carrying a chart in my hand, and I looked at it now.
“Mr. Mark Kaz?” I called out the name of the first person on the list.
“Over here sweetheart,” I heard a voice and looked up to find the man sitting on one of the chairs. I gulped when I took a look at him because he had instantly reminded me of Tank and his friends.
He was a big guy, with bulging biceps, scruffy hair, and tattoos. His hair was long too, dirty blond and left open. Unlike Tank’s, this guy’s hair was greasy and thinner. He ha
d intense blue eyes, and he was staring me up and down as I walked towards him. I knew he was checking me out, and unlike with Tank, whom I had felt an instant sexual attraction towards, this guy was just giving me the creeps the more he looked at me.
I pasted a smile on my face and walked towards him.
“I see that you need stitches,” I said, peering into the open gash on her forehead. It looked like he had been bleeding from that wound till recently, and now the blood had started to clot around the gash.
He had a wide toothy grin that stretched across his face, as he watched me.
“I don’t need them,” he said and laughed, and I tried to smile. I could sense him watching my every move as I wrote down notes on my chart. His gaze drifted from my breasts to the spot between my legs, my belly and face. When I looked at him again, he was biting down suggestively on his lip.
“How about we skip the stitches, and I take you out for a bike ride instead?” he asked, peering into my eyes. I tucked in a few strands of stray hair behind my ears and tried to smile again.
“We need to give you the stitches, Mr. Kaz. Why don’t you follow me in here?” I said and then turning around, I led him towards the gurney in the corner of the room, which was surrounded by a curtain to give the patients some privacy.
I knew it was a quick and easy job, it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes and once done, this guy could be out of my hair.
He followed me in and then sat down on the gurney, with his legs spread wide apart so that I had no choice but to look for a second at the bulge in his pants. He was clearly trying to tell me something, and I had a feeling that it was going to make me sick.
He was watching me, as I worked on preparing the needles and the anesthesia. I had been quick to notice the MC patch on his jacket. He belonged to some gang called the Dragon Knights, and I almost sighed with relief. At least he wasn’t a part of Tank’s gang.
“I don’t need that stuff, sweetheart. You can put the needle straight through,” he said when he saw me dabbing a cotton ball with the anesthesia.
