Nash (The Skulls) (2 page)

Not that he was addicted.

Laughing, Nash let his hand fall to the floor. He hung off the bottom of his bed staring at everything oddly. Thinking about Kate brought back memories of Sophia, no matter how many times he tried to forget about her, and his rush came crashing down around him. The one woman he wanted more than anything and he couldn’t have her because of his relationship with her whore of her sister.

“Correction, dead whore,” he said. Speaking to himself had become a pastime to him. No one would listen to him
, and he tried not to spend too much time around the other Skulls. The moment Tiny realized he was using, he’d be out on his ass. “Can’t have big brother on my case.” The Skulls was the only thing that made sense in his world.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lash asked. Turning his head slightly, Nash saw his big brother stood near the open doorway with Angel right behind him.
Angel was a blonde and innocent looking type. She reminded him a little of Sophia in the innocent look but not the hair. No, there was nothing blonde about his woman. Sophia was all midnight black hair and deep brown eyes.

His cock
thickened thinking about his sweet, innocent Sophia. Not that he could ever have her. It wasn’t possible for him to have the woman of his dreams. Nope, he’d fucked her sister instead, while also thinking about Sophia. He was totally fucked, and now he was taking drugs. Nash laughed, thinking about how long it had taken him to fuck his life over.

Fuck, he really needed to get a life.

“What’s going on, Lash?” Angel asked. Her voice was sweet. Nash really did love his sister-in-law. She never judged anyone within the club or the women, but she stuck beside his brother. The couple should win some award for the strength and love between them.

“He’s fucking high.” Lash pulled her into the room, slamming the door behind him.

“High? If he’s high then Tiny’s going—”

“To kick his ass when he finds out. Nash will be out on his ass for the first time in the world,” Lash said, interrupting his woman.

“You’ve got to help him.” Angel was as sweet as her voice. What was it about innocent women that the Skulls liked? Nash was starting to hate all the innocence going on around the clubhouse. They needed to find some kinky women who liked being tied up and spanked. Then he’d have a much better time with everything. Rolling over, he ended up on his ass, laughing. “He’s in really bad shape.”

Lash grabbed him by the jacket he was wearing. “Fuck, brother. When was the last time you washed?”
Lash winced away at the stench coming from Nash.

Nash
shrugged as he couldn’t remember.

In one swift move, Lash was tugging him toward the bathroom, barking orders at Angel at the same time. He was dumped in the shower and the water turned on. Growling in anger, Nash tried to hit out at his brother
, but Lash dodged the blows easily while pulling off Nash’s clothes. If he hadn’t been high then his brother wouldn’t be trying to get him out of his clothes.

Once he was naked, Angel took the soiled clothing away. He was surprised Lash let Angel see him butt ass naked. Last time
he checked, his brother was on the possessive side.

“
Do you want to be kicked out of the club? Is this your deal?” Lash asked.

The high he’d been having moments ago was crashing all around him.
The highs didn’t last long all the time. His highs varied from thirty minutes to two hours. The fix was always short, and he never wanted to keep doing it. He’d not been trying to do anything other than deal with his life. Why did his brother have to come and ruin every single moment he had?

“Fuck off,” Nash said, closing his eyes.
He was trying to escape everything.

What are you trying to escape? Your life is not a problem. Taking drugs is the fucking problem.

His face was gripped tightly. He opened his eyes, seeing Lash looking angry. Nash couldn’t recall a time when Lash had been this angry
or at least when the anger was directed at him.

“
You’re not getting away with shit that easily. When did you start fucking using?” Lash asked.

The grip on his face tightened. If Lash wasn’t careful he’d break Nash’s jaw.
Along with Killer, his brother was The Skulls’ muscle now. Both men were hard as rocks, and he knew Lash could kill a man with his bare hands.

“I found some stash and needed
a pick-me-up. I got it, and now I like it. I don’t have a problem.” He shoved Lash’s arm away, stepping under the cold water.

“You don’t have a problem?” Lash asked.

“No, I don’t.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lash speak with Angel,
then kiss her on the lips before turning back to him. The sound of the bedroom door being slammed echoed through to the bathroom.

“If you don’t have a problem then please fucking tell me how a guy from the next town over was
found beaten almost to death, but he was able to tell your description.”

Nash froze under the water not saying
a word. He thought he’d covered his tracks. Looking for drugs in Fort Wills was dangerous and fucking stupid. Tiny knew everything that was going on inside his town. Mess with Tiny and you messed with the whole Skulls. Nash had only wanted a pick-me-up.

“Did I also forget to mention this guy, the one that was beaten
, is a known druggie? He supplies and takes the shit. You have put The Skulls back on the map, you shit-head, but not just for distribution, no, you’ve got us all on the mark for taking the shit as well through the rumor mill.” Lash stopped, stepping away. “Alex is going ape shit over this. You’ve messed up with the next shipment ‘cause we’ve got to lay low. Enemies are created by not meeting bargains, shit-head.”

Nash
listened to everything Lash said feeling his stomach turn.

Turning off the shower, he ignored his shaking hand. Lash handed him a towel.

“Tiny’s on the warpath, and when he comes at you, you better be careful,” Lash said.

“You’re not going to stop him?”

“No, I’m not. Maybe getting your ass hurt or even kicked out might make you realize the shit going down.” Lash looked him up and down.

He was surprised by the look of disgust on Lash’s face.

“What?” Nash asked, getting angry.

“I’m just thinking about
Mom and Dad. I wonder what they’d have to say to your addiction. The Skulls is not a place to be messing around.”

Lash turned to leave. Fisting his hands at his side, Nash stopped himself from asking for help.

He didn’t have a problem, and there was no way he was going to let his brother talk him into thinking he had a problem.

At the door Lash turned. He stalked back toward him
, and Nash waited.

Nash didn’t expect the fist, especially from his brother. He went down as the punch
knocked him off balance. His brother hovered over him.

“You ever
bring shit like that near my woman again and I’ll fucking kill you.” Lash turned away, without looking back.

Grabbing the side of his face, Nash tried to get to his feet unsteadily. When he looked at his reflection in the mirror he saw the blood flowing from his lip.

Checking out his appearance he saw how the drugs he’d been taking affected his body. He rarely ate anymore, and the signs of not eating were starting to show. His skin looked pale, and there was an unhealthy sheen to his skin.

Fuck, he looked a mess, nothing like the man he was a couple of months ago.

That’s what the drugs do to you.

Nash cut off the thought, brushed his teeth
, and grabbed his clothes. He didn’t need confirmation in the mirror that he looked like shit because he felt it.

Opening his bedroom door he headed downstairs to get some breakfast.
Hardy and Rose were sat at the table. Several of the sweet-butts were cooking, but for the most part the clubhouse was empty.

“Where is everyone?” he asked.

Hardy glared at him, clearing his throat. Rose left immediately and the sweet-butts.

“What the hell
’s going on?” Nash ran fingers through his long hair, shocked by how much it had grown.

“They’re out working. Lash covered for your ass again,” Hardy said, standing up.

The respect Nash had for Hardy was high. He hated the look of disgust in the other man’s eyes. Nash was shocked by the looks his brother and now Hardy were giving him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No? I know a drug addict when I see one. I don’t like you being at the clubhouse, but Tiny’s got too many problems with Eva and the club to see your problems. We all see it, and the guys don’t like it. We’ve got women and children who visit here, regularly. Drugs are not part of the deal with us.” Hardy folded his hands over his chest, stepping close. “I’m giving you a chance to get clean, or I’m making Tiny aware of the fact.” He turned to look in the direction where Rose walked off. “My woman means the world to me. You put her in danger, and I’ll end you.”

With those parting words, Hardy left. Standing in the empty clubhouse, Nash zeroed in on
Mikey’s picture. The older biker had been killed four months ago by one of their enemies. It had been that long since the old man had died, but it felt like he’d been gone far longer. Nash missed him. Mikey was the one guy who knew how to handle everything. Tiny was the leader, the guy in charge, but Mikey had been the voice of reason. Nash had been taking drugs for over two months. The fact he hadn’t been caught shocked him. Tiny really must be distracted with the rebuild of the club, Tate’s wedding, and everything else to do with their lives. Nash’s luck would run out sooner rather than later. He knew it down to his soul.

Staring at the picture Nash realized he’d been controlled by the drugs longer than he thought. Staring down at his hands, he vowed to get sober from it all. No drinking, no drugs, and no rough partying.

His hands started to shake, and the scent of booze lingered in the air. Drink was never really a problem. He could handle one drink.

****

Sophia Wright stared at the box in front of her. Ever since her landlord had been calling for her rent she’d had no choice but to get another job in the boxing factory. Between her waitressing job and the factory job she was earning enough to make ends meet. Providing nothing happened in her life like illness or, heck, actually having a life, she’d be fine. When she learned that Edward Myers, or Nash as he was known as to most people, had been paying for her place and that he’d stopped paying suddenly, she’d been shocked. She hadn’t realized he was paying for her place, and then she’d been hurt. He’d moved her into a place that she couldn’t afford, but she loved.

Shaking her head, she got back to business of making up the box
in front of her. If she didn’t make up her quota her boss was going to be on her ass for more. She hated her boss. He was a fucking asshole.

Without this job I can’t live.

She kept saying the same thing over and over again. With everything that happened in her life in the last few months she’d dropped out of college. Her heart wasn’t in the studying at all. After she’d quit college, she tossed all of her books in the trash. There was no need for her to try to improve her life. Fort Wills wasn’t raving on the job front. The town was controlled by bikers, and that alone made finding work hard. For her it was difficult as Kate, her sister, had portrayed an image that many others believed Sophia to share.

Plenty of women she’d grown up with wanted to be an old
lady or a sweet-butt. She didn’t want any of it. When Kate, her deceased sister, brought a Skull home, Sophia had been shocked. Edward, or Nash as he was better known, was nothing like the bikers she’d imagined in her mind. He’d been sweet, thoughtful, and the complete opposite of the biker image he portrayed. Whenever they’d been together, he’d been so nice, not once commenting on her plus size figure. In fact, she’d started to wonder what he ever saw in her sister.

“Get your head out of your ass, Sophia. Those boxes won’t make themselves,” her boss, Willy
, said.

Ignoring his comments, she sped up her work.

Need the job. Need the job. Need the job.

It didn’t matter how many times she said the words, what she did was boring.

Her boss got right in close behind her. She didn’t make a sound and kept working as if he wasn’t there. “You need to keep that speed at all times if you want to keep this job.”

He threatened the end of her job every day. At first she’d been afraid in
case he did take away her work, which was why she put up with his crap. She’d called him out on sexual harassment, and he’d thrown Kate in her face. Who would believe her when everyone knew how Kate was? She didn’t know why some people judged her on Kate’s actions, but it was a small town, and she knew what that meant. Her life had really gone to shit since her sister’s death and her kicking Nash out of her life.

Fight it.

Sophia didn’t fight. She dealt with the problem at hand and ignored everything else she could. There was no one else to fight for her. She was all alone in the world.