Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (26 page)

"Mmm?" came her noise. From his position, he could
see she didn't even open her eyes.

"Gotta go to work, sugar," he advised. "Stay as long
as you want. The key is on the desk. Just make sure you put it back
on the hook when you leave."

"Mm-kay," was her sleepy response which was said with
a small smile. A tiny crooking of her full lips that caused his
heart to miss a beat.

"I love you, Ryley," he whispered against the shell
of her ear.

"Love you, too, Dare," she mumbled before puckering
her lips. A pursing that had him performing a pretzel-kind of move
on the bed in order to meet her unspoken request for a kiss.
Patting her rounded bottom, he stood up from the mattress but was
hard pressed to stop staring at the woman that he wanted more than
his next breath.

She
loved
him.

Motherfuckin'
him
, for Christ's sake!

And Dare left to go conquer his world.

*.*.*.*.*

It was a total walk of shame even though I'd showered
and used the hem of a towel on my teeth. But still, I was dressed
in the clothes of the night before and was trying to sneak into the
clubhouse in order to put the room key back where it belonged
before grabbing my purse.

Lucky for me, no one was there except for a
passed-out couple at one of the far tables. I didn't pay them any
attention as I tip-toed behind the bar to snag my overstuffed
bag.

"Rye?" Oh shit! I turned my head and saw Vegas
standing near the door. My glance back to the table revealed she'd
been one of the people who'd been sleeping there.

"What are you doing here at this hour, Vey?" I asked,
trying for cordial or even nice but not succeeding with either
challenge. Her smeared makeup and mussed hair spoke volumes about
the night she'd endured.

I saw her gaze go to the man who was still sprawled
and snoring loudly in the still air of the room. Jay-sus, it was
March!

"He was too drunk to take the Harley back to the
motel," she whispered. "I tried to get the one of the brothers to
give us a ride but…"

"Why didn't you just call a taxi?" That's what I
would've done in that circumstance, an occurrence I'd been in on
more than one occasion with March. But then again, I had never been
above getting my own ass home first and letting March find his own
way.

Her eyes had moved to the bag of flesh still draped
over the tabletop and I wondered if she'd even heard my question. I
decided to use a different tactic. "Get your shit, honey and I'll
drive you."

"I can't just leave him!" she cried.

What the fuck?

"Of course you can," I assured her, stepping closer.
Jay-sus, was she really in so deep that she couldn't see what was
right in front of her face?

Her head swung back to me before she answered on a
voice so bleak, so strained, it didn't even sound like her
speaking. "No, Rye, I can't." Her hand cupped her lower stomach as
the light in her eyes changed to something that seemed to beg for
understanding. "I'm pregnant. March is the father."

Oh. Hello!

"Uhm. Okay, then what do you want to do, Vegas?" The
whole conversation was killing the residual buzz of a night of me
and Dare confessing our love for one another even if we hadn't
figured out a way to be together as a couple.

She didn't answer but went back to staring at her
man. A man I was more than happy to be free of on every level.

I looked down at the room key that was cutting into
my palm as my mind raced. "Plan B, then. Here's the key to room
three," I said, passing it to her. "Knock yourselves out."

"Can you help me get him there?" she asked quietly
and I got the impression she knew she was pushing it with the
request.

"No, honey. I can't," I replied honestly and on a
sigh. "But I'll see if I can get someone that will."

Vegas just nodded and I left to try and find a
recruit that could pour my ex-fiance into a bed where I'd just the
previous night shared sweet love with the man of my youth and of my
adult heart.

Chapter Twenty Five

"Calling this meeting to order," Trey said and
knocked the gavel on the conference room table later that morning.
After Dare had seen Ryley to the Hellion car she'd borrowed in
order to keep her off her dad's radar. "Spoke with the shithead
this morning and…"

"As the senior president of the Hellions, I'm
starting this session," Gus cut in loud and abruptly. The older man
didn't look good with his pale face, darkly circled eyes and salt
and pepper scruff showing he hadn't shaved that morning. The fact
that he'd entered the room on a cane hadn't escaped anyone's
attention. "We have other fucking business to take care of before
we talk about the shithead and his Czars."

Trey's eyebrows were raised but he didn't say
anything, just waved his hand towards Gus in a have-at-it
gesture.

"I'm calling for the cut of Dare Gentry," the older
man growled without preamble, his eyes never leaving Trey's. The
room went completely silent with Gus's words.

Trey's voice was steady when he spoke his reply.
"That's a serious call, brother."

"It is," Gus agreed. "The fact that he took on a
president without provocation should be enough to…"

The room exploded on the Missoula side of the table
with all the brothers but Dare yelling, even including the ones
that hadn't even been at the club to see what had happened.

Trey used the gavel to silence them. "You know better
than that, Gus. And the recap I received on yesterday's doings
fucking show it was just two brothers getting into it. Nothing
more."

"That's bullshit!" Gus roared. "That slippery little
fucker called me out and…"

His words stopped when Leif put a hand on his
father's arm. Yanking it away, Gus again glared, his look going to
Dare for the first time and then back to Trey. "He's also related
to the Big Horn County Sheriff. A relationship that can't and won't
be tolerated by the Hellions for any reason."

Trey was quiet as he looked at the older man. "What
makes you think he has a family? And for that matter, has one in
law enforcement?"

Dare too, was wondering how the other club president
had gotten wind of Jim but fucking loved how Trey wasn't giving
anything away with his questions.

"I'm not at liberty to say," Gus said with a
challenging chin lift.

"Then your call for Dare Gentry's cut is denied,"
Trey announced firmly and did another knock with his gavel.
"Additionally, if you have a beef with one of my men whether
they're on my council, a club member or just a recruit, you fucking
bring it to me first. Wasting time by doing this during a council
meeting just makes you look like a fucking ass."

This time it was the Spokane side of the table that
erupted until Trey banged the gavel for quiet.

"But, since you fucking brought up something you
won't provide the goddamn source for, I have to ask a question
about one of your members as well." Trey's voice had gotten quieter
but colder. "Every night since Spokane arrived, there's been a
brother that has had to be taken back to the motel so fucking drunk
he's outta his mind." Trey tilted his head as his eyes narrowed.
"One that, according to the Honeys, hits the booze and hits it hard
especially when you and your boy aren't watching."

Gus's eyes widened at Trey's questions. "Who is
it?"

"Wish I could fucking echo your 'I'm not at liberty
to say' shit for the fun of it but I don't play those games," Trey
answered with a rueful chuckle. "It's your man, March. And it seems
that the Honey named Vegas has appointed herself as his
watchdog."

"That's not possible," Leif whispered, his glance
turning to the other men on his side of the table. "He's with
Ryley, for god's sake!"

Dare's stomach clenched at Leif's words. At some
point in time, he was determined to ensure her family knew
exactly
who Ryley belonged with!

"I was the last one that hauled his ass into a ride,
motherfucker! So don't tell me what's not possible," Silo roared,
slapping the table.

"Seems to me, we've got a problem, Gus," Trey
rumbled. "As you know, a man with a monkey on his back isn't a
brother you want guarding yours. Much less a princess."

"He's a lightweight!" Gus blustered, but Dare could
see the older man's face whiten into a paleness that almost looked
gray. "Can't hold his liquor for shit."

"The recruits saw a bottle tucked into the trash
basket of the men's room, Gus. And it matched what your boy
drinks," Trey affirmed. "Either your man has a weak bladder or has
a problem. A problem no Hellion needs."

Fuck! March was a drunk? Dare knew that shit wouldn't
be tolerated since one of the unspoken rules of the Hellions were
no vices. Not of pussy, drink or of the chemical variety.

"A lot of men go down whiskey road," Leif cut in.

Trey's eyes turned to the younger man. "Not so many,
amigo, that we can't fucking figure there's abuse going down. Or
who's fucking doing it."

Christ!

Dare couldn't control his emotions and only hoped
they didn't show on his face. Ryley, his beautiful girl, had been
given to a drunk? Thank god, he hadn't known that yesterday when
Gus had challenged him!

"You sure?" The older president's voice was just a
rasp in the quiet of the room and Dare saw there wasn't a Spokane
brother that was looking across the table at their Missoulan
brothers.

"As much as I can be," Trey replied, his voice heavy,
which Dare knew was with regret. To Trey, a Hellion was a Hellion.
A man he could count on to have his back and was worthy of his
respect and regard. But not if that man was riding a jones that
could put other Hellion lives in jeopardy.

At Trey's words, all Gus did was to nod, his face
even paler than it had been when he'd sat down, all bluster
gone.

"Now." Trey's sigh was not lost his men. "I finally
fucking heard from Ham and he's proposing a sit down in Deer Lodge
at noon tomorrow. We all know that a meeting is needed in order to
gain access of the thirty-six mile stretch on the 90 in order to
get to Billings. The Czars consider that portion to be in their
territory and we need to work out a resolution."

"Never heard of a club claiming a fucking freeway
before," came the call from one of the Spokane brothers as if to
get on to something, anything other than their previous talk of
March.

"Me, either. So it's goddamn imperative we sort this
shit out," Trey agreed. "With the knowledge we have on their
previous fucking doings and Spokane's experience from years past,
we want to prevent this shit from initiating a war."

"You think they're up for a compromise?" Leif asked,
doubt dripping from each syllable. "They weren't up for one
before."

"Dunno until we try, right?" Trey asked with a shrug.
"I want a team of twenty Hellions to take the meet and would prefer
a mix of both clubs, including me and Gus."

At the different nods, Trey continued on a quieter
note. "Let's keep in mind we're brothers and have all taken the
Hellion oath. The fucking in-fighting that's gone down is not
acceptable and will not be tolerated anymore than a brother so
drunk he can't defend a brother when needed. You get me?"

"Can't we all just get along?" Huff whined, which
caused a round of relieved laughter around the table. Just what the
meeting needed to lighten the mood.

"Any other issues? Good. I call this meeting
adjourned." Trey tapped the table and dropped the handle of the
gavel. As the Spokane members filed out with Leif assisting his dad
out of the chair, Trey motioned for his men to stay behind. As soon
as the sounds of boots faded down the hall, he turned and let his
gaze run over his brothers.

"Gus has it in for Dare and I want to fucking know
how he heard about the sheriff. You," he said pointing at his
youngest council member. "Mind your fucking P's and Q's while you
watch your back."

His finger turned to point at Silo and then Brand.
"Need you two to find the leak that discovered Dare's brother,
their connection and fucking plug it."

Turning to Bishop and Huff, he dropped the finger.
"Run a sweep of the offices and the clubhouse. I want to know if
somehow, someway, someone's got fucking ears on us." He again
looked over his men. "Don't like this shit and won't put up with it
on my fucking turf."

There wasn't a man in the room that didn't agree.

*.*.*.*.*

Dare cornered Trey in his office as soon as the other
man appeared.

"I want to turn in my cut," he announced without any
lead-in. Sure, it was a balls-to-the-wall statement but he wanted
to get it out and on the table early in the conversation.

Trey just glanced at his youngest council member as
he shrugged out of his own vest and hung it over the back of his
chair before turning on his computer.

"Refused," he offered in one succinct word before
turning his eyes to the monitor and using the keyboard to enter his
password. "Though, for shits and giggles, I'll ask why."

"I want Ryley," Dare said and felt his heart almost
come out of his chest with what he finally had the stones to say
outloud.

"Again. It's refused," Trey replied as his eyes
remained on whatever the fuck he was viewing on his screen. "Need
you for the fucking meeting with the Czar's."

Wait…what?

It was supposed to be a simple thing even though it
had been a motherfuckin' hard decision to make.

He'd chosen his girl, his future, which wouldn't be
accepted by Gus and would have the other man demanding he give up
the Hellions. So he'd decided to preempt that move by turning in
his cut first. Because to him, Ryley
was
his future even if
he had to let go of the club, the fuckin' brotherhood that had
taught him, raised him and shown him the kind of man he wanted to
be.