Jerry's Passion: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 6) (20 page)

“Did you tell the police everything?”

“Yeah. I’m sure they’ll be contacting you.” He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. “The guy’s obsessed with you. He kept telling me you’re his. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t. My dad will know how to handle this. You look tired. I should go.”

Holding her hand, he said, “Don’t go. Stay with me until I fall asleep. The meds I’m taking make me so tired.

“I’ll stay, don’t worry. You just get better.”

She stayed long after he’d fallen asleep, the image of the guy in the purple Corvette haunting her thoughts.

The nurse came in to replace Ricky’s empty IV bag with a new one. She smiled at Kylie. “He’s a lucky man. Are you his girlfriend?”

“No, we’re just really good friends. I’m so glad those hikers came across him. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost him.” She didn’t add that what had happened was her fault because her stalker thought she had something with Ricky. She couldn’t let the asshole get away with it. Being raised with a dad in an outlaw club, she knew the guy would slither away for a while. He hadn’t planned on Ricky surviving, so he’d lay low. She’d even bet he was long gone from Crested Peak.

“Your friend is going to be fine. A couple days in the hospital for observation and to get his fluids back, and he’ll be able to go home.”

She nodded. The nurse made some notes on a clipboard that hung on the foot of the bed, and then left the room. Kylie stood up and stretched her arms above her head. Leaning over, she placed a kiss on Ricky’s forehead. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” she whispered.

As she gathered her purse and car keys, a couple in their forties entered the room. The dark-haired woman had Ricky’s eyes and mouth. Kylie guessed they were his parents, so she extended her arm. “Hi, I’m Kylie. I’m a good friend of Ricky’s.”

Mrs. Lanning shook her hand and scanned Kylie’s face. “Ricky speaks highly of you.”

She blushed. “The nurse just left, but she said he’s doing real well and will probably leave the hospital in a couple days. I’m so glad.”

His mother nodded as his father cleared his throat. “Do you know who the man is who hurt our son?”

“No. I wish I did. I’m sure the past several days have been rough for both of you.”

“You can’t even imagine,” Mrs. Lanning said as she stroked Ricky’s forehead.

An awkward silence spread around them. “Where are you staying?” Kylie asked.

“The Silver Spruce Motel,” Mr. Lanning said. Kylie bit the inside of her cheek to keep her wicked smile from her lips. “It’s very nice.”

“I heard it is.” Kylie slung her purse over her shoulder. “I was just leaving. It was nice meeting you. I’ll be by in the morning to see Ricky.” She walked out of the room and made her way to the elevators.

Back in her dorm room, she updated Taylor on Ricky’s condition. When she told her who’d done this to him, Taylor’s mouth dropped open. “Girl, if you don’t tell your dad, I will. This is some real scary shit like you see in the movies, only this is real life. What a sick fuck. It’s a damn good thing school’s almost out. At least you’ll have the distance for the next three months.”

“I know. And I’m calling my dad straight away. I just have one more week then I’m home. Ricky’s parents are here, so they’ll take him back to Denver when he’s released from the hospital.”

“I wonder what’ll happen with his finals. The whole thing sucks.”

“The school is giving him an Incomplete in his classes for now, and he can take the finals when he feels better over the summer. What a fucking drag. I’d invited him to come see me in Pinewood during the summer. I hope he will. And you have to come see me too.”

“I plan to. I’m taking it easy this summer. What’re you doing?”

“I’m looking for a job. I want to earn my own money, and I’m still not all that comfortable with Belle being my stepmom. It still seems weird, but I pretend it’s cool for my dad’s sake. I mean, it
is
cool—for him. I’m happy he found someone. He’s not as grumpy.” She laughed.

“It took me a long time to get used to my stepdad, but now we get along fine. He’ll never replace my dad, but he doesn’t want to, and when I really understood that, everything just fell into place. Give it some time.”

“I am. It’ll be nice when the baby comes. I never thought I’d be a big sister.”

The two girls chatted well into the late-night hours. Later, as Kylie lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, she let herself be happy. For the past several days, anxiety took center stage, but Ricky had been found, so she could cherish and linger on the memories of her awesome night with Jerry at the motel. It was the happiest she’d been in a very long time. She felt a deep connection between them, and the way she’d catch him staring at her when he didn’t know she was looking told her he felt it too.

She was beginning to fall hard for him, and she knew that was dangerous. She’d been around bikers her whole life, and they were “fuck ‘em and leave ‘em” type of men. Kylie was lucky to have a wonderful dad who’d never cheated on her mom, and she knew he would be true to Belle, but he was quite the anomaly in the outlaw biker world. The way the men played musical pussy with the club women made her head spin. She had no business even entertaining the notion of falling in love with Jerry. He was a runaround, a man who liked easy sex and a lot of it. She was his fantasy come true, just like he was hers. But after the novelty wore off, he’d move on.

Her insides lurched when she thought of him with the club girls. She’d hoped he wasn’t screwing them, but she didn’t have any claim on him. He was a free agent.
Stop doing this to yourself. You’re having a great time with him. Take it for what it is.
Kylie covered her eyes with her arm.
But I want more. I want all of him. I want him to fall hopelessly in love with me, and never want anyone but me. Stop it! You’re acting like you’re still in high school.

Jerry was a womanizer, and she’d given her body to him—and was loving every minute of it. But she was determined not to give him her heart so he could trample on it.

After all, she knew how bikers were with women.

“T
his fucking dead
man drives a purple Corvette and, according to Kylie’s friend who this asshole beat up, he has a big-ass cobra tat on his right arm. He’s been scaring my little girl, and the way he’s acting tells me this isn’t some random shit. He’s targeted her, and I want the fucker dead, but not before I have a ‘talk’ with him.” Banger’s blue eyes flashed, waves of anger emanating from him.

“How long’s this been going on?” Jerry asked tightly. He tried to act pissed in the same way all the other members were, not in the way a man crazy over a woman would be. He was one step ahead of Banger, because he was gonna cut the sonofabitch’s balls off and stuff them in his goddamned mouth.

“Apparently for about a month or so. I wish Kylie would’ve told me right away. The fucker would be nothing more than dust. Damn, she should’ve known better than to keep this to herself.”

“The asshole’s probably gone underground with that kid pulling through. There’s no way he’s gonna hang around with all the heat on him.” Hawk rubbed his face. “But we know that’s not gonna stop him, right?”

“He’s obsessed with my little girl, and it seems he’s got something against me. He’s not gonna stop until we stop him.” Banger turned to Hawk. “Find out how many damn purple Corvettes with a white racing stripe there are in the state. I want to know the profile of each and every damn owner.”

“I’ll also check Nebraska, Wyoming, and New Mexico, just to be sure. I’m with you—this isn’t any random shit.”

“It’s sounding like some fucked-up vendetta,” Throttle said. “Now that’s gonna be hard to figure out who you pissed off, Prez. It’ll be easier to find the owner of the damned sports car.”

“You’re right. I’ve pissed off a shitload of people, but I don’t want my Kylie suffering for shit I’ve done.” Banger took a gulp of beer.

Jerry narrowed his eyes. “We know the fucker’s a coward. Going after a beautiful young woman to get back at her dad is chickenshit.” Jerry looked away when Banger threw him a quizzical look when he said “beautiful” to describe Kylie. It just slipped out.

Still staring at Jerry, Banger said, “Let’s put it to a vote, because I’m gonna need everyone in on this. I’m gonna ask you all to keep an eye out for the bastard, and for Kylie. I want to find him, and this may be my personal problem, so if some of you don’t want any part of it, I’ll understand. No worries.”

“Kylie’s like our own daughter,” Bear said. Several of the older members nodded in agreement. “Count me in.”

Many voices echoed Bear’s sentiment, and when all was over, the membership voted to find out who was targeting Kylie and snuff him out. When the gavel hit the table adjourning the emergency meeting, the brothers made their way to the great room to unwind. Jerry started to walk out when Banger called him over.

“What’s up?” Jerry shoved his hands in his jeans’ front pockets.

“You don’t need to get too involved with this situation. You’re busy at the grow store, and I want you to keep your eye out at that trailer park and see what’s going on with that couple the Skull Crushers were staying with.”

Jerry wanted to tell Banger that there was no fucking way he wasn’t going to be involved in finding the SOB who’d been scaring Kylie, but he just nodded. He knew Banger was testing him, especially since he’d slipped and called Kylie “beautiful” a few minutes before.
It could’ve been worse. I could’ve called her a “hot babe.”
He sniggered under his breath. “Okay. Whatever you want.”

Banger’s eyes hadn’t left his once. Staring back, Jerry said, “Are we done here?”

A long pause ensued, neither man making a move until Axe came into the room. “Hawk said you wanted to talk to me.”

“I do.” Banger’s steely gaze shifted to Axe. “Jerry and I are done.”

Jerry tilted his chin and left the room. As he stood guzzling his beer, he made a vow to find the asshole on his own and make him pay for what he’d done. Leaving the empty beer bottle on the bar, he walked out into the bright sunshine. He rode in the direction of the trailer park; he wanted to make sure no more Skull Crushers were lurking around. He was pretty sure the couple the other guys had stayed with was cooking meth. He’d check it out and let Banger know.

As he rode, he thought about Kylie. It had become a habit to think about her most of the time. In a few days, she would be home for the summer. He couldn’t wait to hold and kiss her; he’d missed her too much, and that was a first for him.

Jerry had trouble getting close to people. He chalked it up to being bounced around in foster care for most of his childhood thanks to a drugged-out mother, and a father who was in prison more than he was home. After Jerry and his siblings were taken out of Wanda’s house, he’d heard that his dad killed a woman he’d been shacking up with. He’d been incarcerated ever since he’d pled guilty to second degree murder.

A couple years back, Jerry had received a letter that was postmarked Cañon City. It was from his old man, who’d been sitting on his ass in prison for the previous eleven years. In all the time Jerry was dealing with growing up in the foster care system, he hadn’t heard anything from his dad. It was like the man had forgotten his kids existed. He’d thrown the letter away—unopened—never to receive another one, which suited him just fine.

He’d never belonged to anyone or anything until he began prospecting with the Insurgents when he’d turned twenty. Even though it fucking sucked to be a prospect, and the brothers treated you like you were a piece of shit on their boots, he still felt the tie that bound the members together. It was something he’d never seen, and when he’d received his full patch, he couldn’t believe the camaraderie and closeness the brothers had for each other. It was the first time he understood what it felt like to have a family. Loyalty, love, and trust were integral to the brotherhood, and he embraced it wholeheartedly. He’d been craving it and he didn’t even know it.

The light feeling he experienced when he thought of Kylie coming home for the summer dissipated as he reflected on the club. Him fucking her wasn’t just about Banger and how pissed he’d be; it was about losing the only real family Jerry ever had. It wasn’t so easy to think of walking away. Besides, he’d never forgive himself if Banger and Kylie drifted apart.

Rounding the corner, he rode through the open, rusted gates, parked in front of Wanda’s trailer, and went inside. It was definitely in better condition than it’d been when he was last there, but there were still magazines, empty pop cans, and a few dishes in the sink. Kelsey came out of her room and smiled when she saw him. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Jerry frowned at her too-short shorts and tight tube top. “How’ve you been?”

“Bored. My boyfriend’s gone.”

“Who’s that?”

“The guy who was staying with Randy and Dolores. He just up and left with his friends. They think the cops were on to them because they just left all their shit behind.”

“That asshole I saw the last time I was here was your boyfriend?”

“Not at that time, but we got friendly and started hanging out. I miss him.”

“I’m sure you’ll get over it.”

“She always does,” Wanda interjected. “She’s got a different boyfriend every week. I tell her to enjoy it while she can because when them wrinkles start in, the men don’t want you. Can’t blame them. Who the hell wants to fuck a dried-up prune? You wouldn’t, would you? I bet the whores you screw are real pretty with their made-up faces, high heels, and low-cut clothes that show off their boobs.” She laughed and took a sip from her cup. “This is such good coffee.”

“Bet it’s a hundred proof.” Jerry shook his head.

Kelsey came close to Jerry and said in a low voice, “Did I do a good job? Do you have my money?”

“What’s she whispering to you? Don’t you believe a damn thing she’s saying. Last week was the only time I went to the casino.”

“I’ll talk to you in a bit,” Jerry said as he went over to Wanda. “I’ve heard you been going to Casanova’s Nightclub and losing a lot of money. You realize if you can’t pay those guys, they’re not the patient or gentle type. How much are you in over your head?”