Rough & Rugged (Notorious Devils Book 3) (36 page)

“You have a ray of sunshine?” I ask.

My uncle is a quiet man. In fact, I don’t know much about him at all. We’re related by blood, but I didn’t even meet him until I was sixteen years old. Our relationship is more of a friendship, tied together through brotherhood, and sealed with a familial bond.

“I did once, yes. But I didn’t hold onto her with two hands, Johnny. I lost her. That’s why I’m giving you this advice. It’s based off of my own experience. The whores, the pussy and ass, those’ll always be there. But a good, clean woman won’t. Man up and be what she needs you to be. In the end, you’ll find that the whores really are just sad little girls. You’ll feel pity for them, but your woman will fill your heart,” he says.

“Thanks, Gandhi,” I laugh, slapping him on the back.

Then I look at him in the eye, all traces of joking aside. What he’s saying, I understand completely.

“You ready to get back to your woman?” he asks.

“More than ever,” I nod.

“We called cop Andy and we’re having him come up here. Told him that Willa was found in a hotel pretty fuckin’ hurt and that we’d have her at the clubhouse for him to pick up. What do you want done with your mom?” Sniper asks as Torch carries Willa, who’s wrapped in a blanket, to the van.

“Leave her there,” I say.

“Johnny?” Grizz asks.

“She’s so far gone, she’s just a shell.”

Sniper nods and then signals to the van as two prospects hop out and go inside to clean up the mess of my dead father’s body.

“You know what’ll happen to her?” Sniper asks with a frown.

“She’ll either clean her shit up, or she’ll join the old man,” I say lifting a shoulder.

“You’re cool with that?”

“Don’t wanna be, but I can’t do anything for her. I’ve tried offering her help and I’ve enabled. Neither work, and I have my own woman to worry about. She’s a grown ass adult.”

“Where’s your bike?” Grizz murmurs.

“Probably around the back,” I grunt.

Together, we walk around the back of the house, and there sits my bike—key in the ignition and ready to roll.

“Go get to your woman, hear she’s worried fuckin’ sick about your skinny ass,” Grizz says, clapping me on the shoulder. He walks away without another word.

I place a cigarette between my lips and light it before I straddle my bike and take off with a roar. My past is finally gone, over and done with. I’m sure I’ll catch a glimpse of my mom in the future, but my main demon, my dad, is gone. I feel nothing but relief as I think about that. Now I can focus on my future, like Grizz said.

I can focus on my sunshine—my Hattie.

I
wake up with a jolt and look around in confusion, until everything sinks in like a weight of bricks weighing down my stomach.
Johnny
. He’s still gone, and it makes my chest ache. I stand up and pace the room. I feel like a caged animal. I know Torch told me to stay locked inside of here, but it’s been hours and I can’t handle it anymore.

I unlock and wrench the door open, listening for anything that may sound suspicious. I don’t hear anything. I make my way to the bathrooms and make quick use before washing my hands in the sink. I jump when the door opens and one of the women I’ve seen hanging around walks inside. She looks me up and down with a frown before she speaks.

“I’m not really supposed to talk to you or anything,” she murmurs before she exhales and continues. “But I just want to say, I’ve never seen Dirty Johnny happier than he has been the past few weeks. He’s always been a pretty good guy, so I like that for him, that he has you.”

“Thanks?” I say, not quite understanding the reason she’s talking to me.

“I just, I didn’t want you to think there were any hard feelings or anything. I mean, I’ve been with him before and, well, I didn’t want you to hate me,” she murmurs.

This girl is opposite of me in almost every way possible. She has bleached blonde hair, big breasts, curvy hips, and an abundant ass. Her face is caked with makeup and she’s probably younger than she looks, but there’s no way she’s as young as I am. I don’t understand how Johnny could go from her to me.

“What’s your name?” I ask out of curiosity.

“Tasha,” she murmurs.

The name rings a bell. This is one of the women that danced for him last night, one of the women that he watched for a while but then walked away from.

“He didn’t—I mean, he said he didn’t and I want to believe him…” I let my words trail off, feeling stupid for just asking.

“He didn’t do anything last night. He watched a little, but he left,” she states with a knowing smile.

“Thanks,” I whisper.

“I’m a whore, but I’m not a homewrecker. I wouldn’t pursue him, not like that.”

I open my mouth to ask for clarification of her statement, but she’s already turned around and walked away, leaving me confused. I stand immobilized for a minute, and then I decide to make my way toward the bar, hoping that maybe somebody has heard some news about Johnny. At this point, I’d take anything at all.

The bar is quiet, only a few people milling around, and I walk up to the man behind the counter, intent on finding out about Johnny. They have to know something by now.

“You shouldn’t be down here,” the man grumbles before he looks up at me. He’s around my age, and I wonder how he’s gotten to be part of this group.

“I know. I just couldn’t stay up there another minute longer. Have you heard anything about him?”

“They don’t tell prospects shit,” he grumbles, pushing a bottle of beer toward me.

I wrap my fingers around the sweaty base before I lift it to my lips and take a sip. I don’t drink much, it’s not my favorite thing to do, but I’m hoping that it will calm my nerves.

I spin around on my stool and scan the room. I see the Tasha woman from the bathroom, a few other girls, and one other member at the end of the bar. Other than that, it’s empty.

“Well, something’s happened, everybody’s gone,” I murmur, spinning around to face the prospect again.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he mutters before he slides a tiny little glass toward me.

“What’s this?” I ask, looking down at the liquid inside.

“Tequila. Shoot it. You’re making me fuckin’ nervous,” he grumbles.

I pick up the glass and swallow the contents whole before I start coughing. I feel like my esophagus is going to burst into flames.

“Drink some beer, babe,” the prospect chuckles. I take a huge gulp of beer.

“What did you give me?
Battery acid
?” I rasp.

“You ever done a tequila shot before, girl?” he asks, arching a brow.

“I don’t really drink much,” I murmur.

“I’m not surprised, princess.” It makes my eyes well up with tears. “Oh, fuck. Don’t cry,” he panics.

“Johnny calls me that,” I whisper, taking another sip from the beer bottle in front of me.

“My name’s Dailey,” he says, putting his hand over mine. It’s a comforting move, and I appreciate it.

“Hattie,” I whisper. “Wait, what’s your nickname thingie?” I blurt out, feeling a little light headed from the alcohol.

“Don’t got a road name yet. I’ll get that after I finish prospecting,” he shrugs as he washes glasses.

“How long will that take?” I ask as I continue to drink.

“I have at least four more months,” he says with a grin.

Dailey and I talk while I continue to drink. I’m on my fifth beer and third shot of tequila when the door to the bar bursts open. Standing in the doorway is Fury. He looks…
furious
. He scans the room and then he stops at me and my heart skips a beat with nervousness.

Fury is intimidating in size and stature alone, couple that with the look on his face right now, and he looks downright frightening. I hold my breath as he walks directly for me, only stopping when he’s reached my side.

“You good?” he asks looking down at me.

“I don’t know. Where’s Johnny?” I slur.

“You’re good,” he snorts as he takes a beer from Dailey’s outstretched hand.

“You have to tell me, is he okay?” I beg.

“He’ll be here soon. He’s good, babe,” he grins, taking a pull from his beer.

“You need prospects to clean up the mess from that whore?” asks the man who, up until now, has been completely silent down at the end of the bar.

My eyes widen and I look up at Fury in question. He shakes his head once and curses under his breath.

“No, Buck, not this time,” he mutters.

“What’d ya do to her?” he asks.

I continue to drink my beer, unsure of where this conversation is headed, but curious just the same.

“I’m tired of these whores and their bullshit. This is the third one we’ve had to deal with, and this shit is getting old,” Fury says, avoiding the man’s question.

“Just because you got a steady flow of pussy in your bed, don’t go punishing us by getting rid of the whores,” Buck says, slamming his beer down.

My eyes about pop out of my skull listening to the conversation. I try not to move so that I can find out the rest, too damn curious for my own good.

“I’m shipping her off to Cali. My dad can deal with her ass. He’s trading us with one of his. Calm your nasty, old ass down. You’ll still get your cock sucked on the regular,” Fury shouts.

I can’t help it. I can’t hold it in. I burst out laughing before my laugh turns into a fit of giggles. Dailey, Fury, and Buck are staring at me like I’m crazy, but I don’t care. I can’t contain my laughter at this discussion.
This ludicrous discussion.

“Nice to see you were really fuckin’ concerned about me,” a deep, ragged voice says behind us.

I turn around slowly and see Johnny standing with his hands planted on his hips and a scowl on his face.

“
Johnny
,” I sigh before I try and stand.

I don’t succeed in the standing part. I sway and fall into Fury who, lucky for me, catches me and then rights my body. He leaves one hand on my shoulder to keep me from tipping over again, and I’m grateful, because my legs feel like jelly.

“Glad to see you’re havin’ a good fuckin’ time. Don’t let me interrupt,” he growls before he walks away. I take a step forward but fall to the ground like an idiot.

“
Christ
,” Fury hisses before I feel my body being lifted off of the ground.

“You want me to let you sober up in the office, or you wanna try to go to him?” Fury asks.

“Take me to Johnny,” I cry as tears stream down my face.

“Ok, darlin’, to Johnny it is,” Fury murmurs against the top of my head.

Pissed off. Angry. Rage filled.

Those are just a couple of the words that I can think of that describe how I’m feeling as soon as I walk into the clubhouse. My woman, my Hattie, was bellied up to the bar, drinking and laughing with my brothers. She’s not who I thought she was, not in the slightest. Torch was just as fucking fooled by her as I was.

Seconds after I walk into my room, Fury is behind me with Hattie in his arms. I narrow my eyes on him and he shakes his head as he walks over to the bed and sets her down on the edge.

“Don’t be a fuckin’ dick,” he announces as he turns around and walks out of my room, slamming the door behind him.

I hear Hattie sniffle and I look over to her. She’s got her face buried in her hands and her little body is shaking as she cries.