Their Holly Bell Read online

  Jester raises his hand and we all stare at him, waiting. “And what do we tell the cops here?”

  “Chelsea and Holly already told them that the guy ran off when Holly screamed at him. If they come back later, we stick to that. If you two do your job right, there won’t be anything tying us to this. We’ll get Triton on surveillance and make sure they’ve got nothing on that end.” Prince says.

  Pres considers it for a minute, then nods. “Make it happen, but do it right. We don’t need any blowback on this.”

  Well that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Not one to argue with my Pres, I nod knowing that this is something we’ll have to do, even if it means I won’t see her for a couple days. Miss Holly Bell better stick around Spanky’s until we get back.

  Three

  Holly

  “Are you legal?” Ryker asks, coming into his office.

  “Nineteen, twenty in a few months.” I answer honestly.

  “You’ve got the job. I’ll see you here tomorrow afternoon at four o’clock. That work for you?”

  I look at Emersen, who not a minute ago was telling me about how she and Ryker met. Now she’s staring at her phone, smiling, but saying nothing.

  “Don’t you want to interview me? Ask me some questions, get some references or something?”

  “No,” Ryker says with his arms folded in front of his chest.

  “I don’t get it.”

  He sighs heavily before walking to his desk and sitting on the edge of it. “You helped out one of ours when you didn’t have to. That took some serious lady balls. You seem like you could use this job since the other places you’ve applied at have turned you down.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “I don’t just own Spanky’s Hell’s Bells. Not to mention I know people and they’ve told me about the new girl trying to get work.”

  Well, shit. Alright. “I need to be paid in cash. Will that be a problem?”

  He looks me over and I pray he doesn’t mind. “You got trouble coming for you?”

  “Not that I can tell.” I fib. He can take that answer however he wants, but as far as I know, Steven doesn’t know where I’m at, yet.

  “Cash it is then. See you tomorrow. If you follow Emersen out, she’ll get you a few t-shirts. You can wear whatever you want with it.”

  “Thank you, Ryker.” He nods but says nothing more.

  That was three nights ago. Emersen was a doll and hooked me up with more than just some shirts. She put her and Chelsea’s number into my phone and told me to call if I ever needed anything. It meant a lot for someone to have my back like that. I’ve never had it before now.

  The first night was hard work learning the way things were done here, but I got the hang of it quickly. I’ve waitressed in a bar before on a rough side of town. Spanky’s wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. At the end of the night, I walked out of there with one hundred and fifty dollars more than I had a few hours earlier and aching feet. It had been a while since I had worked a full night, but it felt good.

  I keep thinking about Quinn and Jasper. Why did Quinn make such a big deal about me leaving if he wasn’t going to follow it up with anything? If I’m being honest, I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t burst through the doors of the office during my non-interview and demand more of my time.

  Emersen has taken me under her wing. She immediately began texting me that first night, giving me the scoop on Spanky’s and the Steel Daggers MC. I’m not sure what she saw in me, to open up so quickly, but I’m proud she’s pulled me into her tribe. She’s already roped me into going shopping and getting dinner my first day off.

  I found out that Chelsea has been working here for months as a waitress and that she and Emersen were best friends as well as roommates in college but then they had a falling out. I get the feeling there’s a lot going on with Chelsea besides what happened the other night. I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t see her the last two days. Obviously, she needs time to get through what happened.

  Chelsea came in today looking happy and ready to take on the world. I’m glad that asshole didn’t do more damage, and she’s able to bounce back so quickly. She let me know that she won’t be waitressing any longer since she is now working as an accountant for Ryker. I say she let me know, but really the three-way texts between the three of us were quite illuminating on many fronts. I’m just glad I’m on the Steel Dagger’s good side.

  It’s nine thirty and I’ve still got another few hours left on the clock before closing time. I’ve met many members of the Steel Daggers MC and so far, I like what I’ve seen. Now don’t get me wrong, the boys are rough and tough, but they got hearts of gold, as far as I can tell by their good nature and respect for those they care about.

  I keep checking the door hoping to see Jasper or Quinn, preferably both, walk through. I don’t even know why I’m looking for them. I shouldn’t be interested in a man, let alone two. How would that even work? The only time I’ve seen a relationship like that is in the books I like to read. I’m sure that couldn’t happen in real life. That doesn’t stop me from imagining what being held between them would be like.

  Chelsea told Emersen about the night I met, and I think they’ve got it in their heads I’m going to be their woman. They keep telling me stories, colorful stories that are drawing me into their orbit. I’m falling for men I don’t even know.

  I’m lost in thought when I bump into a man while carrying a full pitcher of beer on my tray. It spills down my shirt leaving him dry, except for a few drops on his t-shirt. “Oh shit! I’m sorry sir, I wasn’t paying attention.” I say to the man.

  “What the fuck? You stupid cunt!” He yells, and the bar goes quiet. All eyes turn on us, watching the show. Fuck me, I don’t need his shit right now.

  I reign in my anger, not wanting to cause a scene or lose my job. I really need it. “Is there something I can get you? I really am sorry for running into you.”

  “Get your manager over here. I don’t know who hired a useless bitch like you, but they should have thought longer about that decision.” He sneers looking down at me like I’m no better than trash.

  You cannot hit him, Holly. You are better than this, better than him. Look at him, he’s clearly been drinking. Walk away and get Carter over here to calm this asshole down. Yeah, yeah, I know. I turn toward the bar and my eyes immediately go to Carter who is already watching and heading in our direction with a scowl on his face. I hope it’s for this dickhead, and not me.

  I walk two steps before my hair is pulled and I’m snatched backward. I slip in the beer below me and end up falling. Right before I hit the ground a pair of warm arms lift me up to a firm, muscular chest. I look up at my savior not expecting to find myself in Quinn’s arms.

  “Getting into trouble already?” He asks. Just the sound of his warm voice has me melting into him and wrapping my arm around his neck.

  Before I can respond, Jasper has the asshole pinned to the bar with a broken beer bottle pointing at his face. “Who the hell do you think you are touching one of the Steel Daggers?” Jasper asks through clenched teeth.

  “She wasn’t wearing a patch Jester. I didn’t know.”

  “I don’t fucking care if she’s wearing one or not. She’s working here isn’t she? She’s ours. You keep your hands to yourself. Keep your mouth to yourself. Don’t fucking walk back into this bar.”

  “You can’t keep me out of here you son of a bitch.” He roars.

  “No, he can’t. I, on the other hand, can. Tyler, you can pick up your final check on Friday. You are no longer welcome anywhere that belongs to the Steel Daggers.” Pres says evenly across the room of the hushed crowd.

  “Come on Pres. The bitch needed to watch where she was going?”

  Quinn tenses and squeezes me tighter as soon as he calls me a bitch, but I’m not affected, I’ve heard worse. He’s still got me held bridal style in his arms. I rub his chest trying my best to calm him down. “It’s okay Quinn.”

/>   “Him calling you a cunt and a bitch is not okay Holly. Him putting his hands on you is unacceptable. Do you hear me, Holly? How dare he put his hands on you!” He seethes.

  I nod. He’s right and I know it. I’m ashamed I let these behaviors become acceptable to me. The things I let Steven do and say just to get through the days with him were unacceptable.

  Four

  Jasper “Jester” Kent

  I’ve spent the last three days driving and dealing with Eric the asshole. Before we could drop him off we had to make sure he made it through the night. After the beating Rock gave him, we had to make sure he didn’t die. Nothing better than nursing a woman beater back to decent. Once we felt comfortable he’d make it on his own, we drove him to a suburb outside of Chicago and left him in his car covered in cheap liquor. We warned him things would end a lot different if he spoke a word of what happened to the cops.

  We drove straight through back to Meadville, PA. We didn’t even go home before checking in at Spanky’s first to check on her. Our Holly. The first thing I see when I enter is Tyler going off on my treasure. Who the fuck does he think he is to talk to her that way? No, she’s not wearing a patch, but I’ll be rectifying it real quick.

  Between Quinn and I, I’m the laid back one. But when I walked in and saw Tyler treating her that way, something inside me broke. I had no right to tell him he had to get out of the bar. So, when Pres backed me up the deep respect I had for the man went up another notch.

  “I’ll take out the trash Pres. Just give me the sign.”

  “Tyler get the fuck out of my bar and keep your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you. You don’t want an escort from Jester here.” When Tyler nods sharply, I pull him up from the bar and push him in the direction of the exit. He grunts, but stumbles his way there. As soon as he’s out the door, I walk up to Holly who is now sitting on a barstool with Quinn glued to her back.

  “How are you doing Doll?”

  She shrugs. “I’m fine. I had it handled.”

  “I know you did. I couldn’t sit by and watch as he treated you that way though.” I reach up and trace the apple of her cheek with my thumb. Our eyes connect, and I swear to all that is holy she’s trapped me in her spell. A spell I have no intention of ever breaking.

  “How much longer do you have to work Precious?” Quinn asks.

  She bites her lip and stares up at Quinn like he’s hung the moon. Not gonna lie, watching her look at him that way stings. I’ve never been jealous of him before and I don’t like the feeling. Makes sense that the woman I see having my babies, looks at my best friend that way. We’ve been sharing women for so long I should expect this, want it, but now that it’s happening I don’t know if I do anymore.

  “You sure you’re good to finish out the night?” I question.

  She nods and gives me the smile this time. Fuck yeah.

  “I’m scheduled to work until eleven.” she looks at her watch and then looks back at Quinn and then me. “About another hour or so.”

  “We’ll have a seat at the booth over there.” I point to the closest empty booth to the bar.

  “Do you want me to bring you something to drink? Are you hungry?” She asks.

  “We’re starved, but not for anything Spanky’s has on the menu.”

  Her brows draw together, and she tilts her head. I burst out laughing and surprisingly, Quinn laughs with me.

  “Me?” She shouts finally getting what I’m saying.

  We both laugh as do a few of our brothers around us. Quinn glares at them and they go back to what they were drinking.

  “Precious, we’ll take a pitcher of Yuengling. We don’t want any food.” He kisses the side of her head and then walks off to our booth. She looks to me and I can’t help myself.

  Crowding her against the bar, I steal a kiss on her lips. She’s warm and soft and tastes like something fruity. Just as I’m about to pull back she leans in and what the hell. I spread my fingers around her neck, holding her firm, licking the seam of her mouth. When she opens for me I delve in, tasting Holly for the first time. Fuck, she’s delicious. She tastes like mine.

  I pull away from her, placing a soft kiss on her lips and she moans.

  “See you in a few minutes Doll.” I walk away before I do something stupid like pull her in the back to my room I have here. When I get to the table and sit, I look over to see her still sitting there with a dazed expression on her face, touching her fingers to the lips I just ravished.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I couldn’t help myself.” I smile at my best friend and he rolls his eyes at me.

  “What are we doing here Jasp.?”

  “What do you mean? I’ll take the front and you take the back. We haven’t talked about positions in a long time you fuck.”

  “You sure you want to do this? It’s been a while-”

  “Holly is different. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her. The more I find out the more I’m sure I need to make her mine, permanently.”

  “What about me? How do you see me fitting into this? I’m not fighting you for her, and I’m not giving her up. We’ve never shared more than a night. Is that something you’re going to want to do?”

  Before I can answer him, Holly arrives with two frosty mugs and a full pitcher.

  “Here you go, boys. I can pour your beer Quinn, you don’t have to-” She tries to grab the pitcher out of Quinn’s hand, but he refuses and pours our beers for us as she watches with a cute frown on her face.

  “Go get your shit done Precious. We’ll be here when you finish.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Exactly what he said, Holly. You don’t think we’ll let you go home on your own after tonight, do you?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  When she’s gone, checking on other tables, Quinn leans in.

  “We need to talk about this.” He says, pointing between him and I.

  He might need to, but I’m not ready to go there. “Let it be Quinn. Maybe she is what was missing.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, the sting of shame hits me. He sits back and says nothing, watching Holly do her thing. The tick in his jaw is the only thing that lets me know what I said got to him. Fuck!

  Five

  Holly

  It’s been one hell of a night. I’m dead on my feet, and all I want is to go home and take a hot shower in the dinky hotel room I’ve got. It’s old and hasn’t been renovated in years, but at least it’s clean. I’ve stayed in some shitty places over the last few months, and this one is a step above. I haven’t seen one roach or spider, so I’m counting my blessings.

  Carter calls me over to the bar. “Alright, Holly. That’s all for tonight. Why don’t you get going?”

  I check my watch and see I’ve got another thirty minutes at least. “Are you sure? I don’t mind staying. I know I’ve got stuff to clean and set up for tomorrow.”

  “Holly girl, you’re good. I’ll see you tomorrow at four. Okay?”

  “If you’re sure.” I can’t believe he’s letting me go early. Spanky’s is still busy, and probably will be for the next couple of hours.

  He laughs “I’m sure. Go, get out of here.”

  I wrap my apron around my notepad and place it behind the bar. As I look up and start walking to the exit, Jasper and Quinn are there waiting for me.

  “Ready?” Quinn asks.

  “Yep. Carter let me off early tonight. I’m not going to complain though. I’m ready to get out of here.”