novelxo Knuckles: Chapter 7
-:- KNUCKLES -:-
Monday morning blues they call it, but at the moment it feels like most mornings I’m like this. Same old, same old. Get up and either work out to stay in peak fitness for my bouncer duties or go where I’m needed.
I’ve been watching all my brothers, that have now claimed their women, and it’s got me thinking it’s time I thought about settling down. Sighing as I recognize it is finding the one woman that is made for me, and I’m not as good a catch as some of the other brothers.
Axel and Mia are so happy together. It is palpable and we all seem to be feeding from that. The twins are grabbing everyone’s hearts and each and every one of us would die to protect them.
Babies are not something I’m familiar with and every time Mia has me holding one of the boys, my heart pounds because I’m so scared of hurting them. It’s not like I’m a small man, 6’ 4”, well-built thanks to my training, a nose, and lip piercing, beard, and stupid dimples when I smile.
Thoughts of Jo enter my mind. She’s so quiet and reserved, I’d love to dirty her up some. Fuck, where has that thought come from?
Heading into the kitchen, I grab a bowl of oatmeal, a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast and make my way to a table. Watching Meat darting around the kitchen, you can see he’s far more relaxed than when he first came to the club. His PTSD kicks in now and again and I can’t help the smirk when I think of him guarding that treehouse naked but with an AK-47 in his hands. He’s really a sight to see, but you’ve got to keep your eyes above his waist ‘cause that fucker don’t care who sees his dick.
Clearing my dishes, I make my way out to speak to BS before I disappear for the morning. Knocking on his office door, I step inside and when BS looks up from his paperwork; he lifts an eyebrow questioningly.
“I’m out of here in a few, going to the range. Check out the security there and I’ve got a lesson with either Winter or Target. Depends on who won the fuckin’ argument.”
BS chuckles. “Those two, honestly. They are always competing. But it’s good for them, and it’s great to see Target get purpose because for a while I thought we may lose him.”
“Any news on Shar coming back? She’s been gone months, and she wasn’t supposed to stay, was she?”
“No idea. Last I heard, she’s running a strip club and helping the club purchase businesses to keep them away from illegal shit.”
“Do you need me here before I shoot off?”
“No, but I’ll text you if anything crops up.” BS goes back to his paperwork, and I head out to my bike, but grin to myself when Colton appears from nowhere and without speaking, tags along.
Walking into the range, I turn to Colton. “We’re checking out security before I have my lesson. While I have that lesson, I want you to watch, learn, and keep your eyes open for anything that doesn’t look right.”
Nodding, Colton acknowledges my order and follows quietly behind me as I walk over to the security room.
Leaning on the doorframe, I watch a man tapping on the keyboard and eyeing the numerous monitors attached to the wall. The man senses someone behind him and turns. “Do you need anything?”
Shaking my head, I stand to my full height, which has his chin moving up and up, before settling on my face. “Fuckin’ hell man, you’re huge.”
Colton busts out laughing. “He sure is, and he’s as tough as he’s huge, so don’t be thinking he’s a brainless thug because you couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Looking down at Colton, I can see he’s trying to wind this fucker up, but I shake my head and step inside. “Need to know about security, which means how many of you rotate? How do your work patterns work? Do we have a blind spot on the inside or outside of the range?”
The man swivels his chair and, I think for the first time, notices my kutte, stating I’m a Raging Barons member. He takes a moment, which I think is deciding if he should fill me in on what I want to know or not. But common sense prevails, and we spend the next hour going over how the security company works, and how many men we are employing.
Once I have the information I need and I’m satisfied they have covered everything, I make my way over to the reception where Winter is speaking to a woman about the women’s weapon awareness class she’s teaching.
Leaning on the reception desk, I look at Colton, who is grinning like a fool at the young woman, who in turn, is giving him a scowl. I can’t help the grin that crosses my face, and when the young woman looks at me, her eyes roam my face, and she smiles when her eyes zero in on my dimples. Fuck, here we go again. These damn dimples seem to detract from the fact I’m a badass brother of the club.
Turning to Winter, the smile drops as I ask. “Who’s doin’ my lesson?”
Colton is laughing, and I know he’s noticed the interaction between myself and the woman. He also knows I’m not a soft guy with people I don’t know. But he always finds the reaction of women to my damn dimples funny, where I find it damn annoying.
Hearing my name, I turn and Target is waving me over to the security door at the back of the range. Giving Winter a nod, although she’s not had time to do or say anything, I make my way over and follow him back.
“You won the fight for my lesson?” Chuckling at the look on his face.
“Fuckin’ hell man, she’s tough, but I had to resort to dirty tactics and the storage room to win.” Target laughs, and I shake my head at him because I don’t really want to think about him and Winter in the storage room or what they got up to in there.
The lesson is a huge success, and I am happy with how I coped with the sniper rifle for the first time. Target is a good teacher, and he has tons of patience, which I think he’ll need for some of the customers I’ve seen coming in here.
Colton has quietly been standing on one side, watching and learning. Target turns to him and surprises me. “I’ll start you off with weapons again. I know you’ve done some, but if you’re gonna be an enforcer or a bouncer for the club, I want you to be as trained as possible. Same as Knuckles, I want him trained in every way. He’ll be a human weapon, the same as Chaos, Wings, Meat, Stitch, and BS. Do you want me to do that with you, Colton? Before you answer, I’ll not go easy on you.”
“Yeah, I want to be fully trained. I want my patch and be useful to the club. I know I’m not skilled, same as Billy in the wine shop, or Reuse with his art, but I can use my rage to keep everyone safe.” Colton stands to his full 6’ and I’m feeling pretty proud of him, I have to admit.
“Come on, we need to get back to the clubhouse. We’ll eat, then get to the gym and work out.” I nod at Target and head out of the building, giving Winter a wave as I pass.
Back at the clubhouse, Axel calls me into his office and walking in, I nod at Drag and Buzz, who are lounging in the easy chairs.
“I’ve been having an interesting conversation with Mia this morning. It seems that the young man called Lincoln, who was fighting on Friday evening, has a sister. Now this sister, Mia has taken a liking to, and according to Mia, she’s grabbed her for the ‘girl gang’.” Which Axel says with air quotes. I raise an eyebrow because Jo getting involved with the club is either a good or a bad thing and as yet, I don’t know which.
Axel continues. “Mia found out the man that is chasing Lincoln and his sister is a Capo for Vincenzo Vitale. It is coming to light that this fucker is stepping out of line and could be thinking of challenging Vitale for the Don position.
“Nell has spoken with Vincenzo, and they have three of Tommaso’s soldiers in the cells, who are being questioned at this time. Now it seems this fucker has his mind set on Lincoln’s sister, not as a wife, but as a mistress because the fucker already has a wife.
“Nell wants Lincoln to take his sister to the boarding house where she’ll be kept safe, but wanted to speak to me before speaking to anyone else. Apparently, things have been said to Jo, that’s the sister, about going with Nell, or a brother here claiming her, so she has the club’s protection. Now that was Mia’s and her ‘girl gangs’ suggestion.”
Frowning at Axel, I’m thinking not fuckin’ likely is anyone claiming Jo, and when Drag speaks, I clench my fists before I pound the fucker. “I’ll claim her Pres. Not thought about an Ol’ Lady, but from what I heard, she’s a looker and a nice person.”
“You won’t fuckin’ claim her. If she has to be claimed, then I’ll do it. She knows me, and so does Lincoln.” I speak before I give it enough thought, and when Axel gives me an enquiring look, I lock down my expression fast.
“Interesting,” Axel murmurs while rubbing his thumb and finger over his chin.
Drag and Buzz high-five each other, then chuckle at the look I must have had on my face before I locked it down. Flicking my eyes back to Axel, he grins. “You need to speak to Lincoln and see what he has in mind for his sister. Give him the options we have come up with and let me know what he wants to do. Mia needs an answer soon because you know what she’s like. Oh, and Amelia and Bitty are on the case along with all the Ol’ Ladies, so you best move on this before they make the decision for you.”
I give Axel a nod, turn, and leave the office. My first stop is finding Mia and, thankfully, I hear her singing in the playroom to the babies. Opening the door quietly, I soften at the sight of Mia standing next to the cribs and singing to them both. Turning when she senses someone at the door, she turns from the cribs and walks over to me, pulling the door but not quite closing it.
“What can I do for you, Knuckles?”
“I need you to give me time to speak to Nell and Lincoln before you do anything regarding Jolene. If she needs claiming I’ll do it, but I want her brother to know her options before we do anything. He’s put his life on the line for his sister and I won’t take or allow anyone else to take decisions away from either of them. It’s not our place Mia to push our opinions on others, no matter if they are done with good intentions.”
Mia grins. “I’ve never heard you speak so much, but I have to agree with you. I wouldn’t like someone taking my life choices from me, and after being in prison, I understand the impact of losing those choices. Speak to them both and then let me know, but I’ve put Jo under ‘my’ protection, just know that.” She air quoted ‘my’, making sure I realize she’ll go to bat for Jo if needed.
“Thanks Mia, I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve had a chance to speak to them.”
Walking into the common room, both Mia and I stop dead in our tracks when Meat is nose-to-nose with Heather. He’s wearing a feathered warbonnet, ribbon vest, beaded yoke, and deerskin leggings, finished with breechcloth and moccasins.
Heather is red in the face, and her fists are clenched. “If you smoke that fucking peace pipe in your room again and leave the ashes all over the floor, I’m a gonna do something you won’t like.”
Meat just raises an eyebrow, then takes a fucking tomahawk out of the back of his breechcloth and shakes it at her. Heather has had enough. She throws a punch which he ducks easily, further infuriating her because she missed.
Mia busts out laughing when Meat starts dancing around Heather, chanting. But I’ve got to give it to him, when he does something, he does it well. He’s obviously learned the damn noises he’s making and how to do the dancing. Looks just like you see in the old western movies when the Indians are on the warpath and dancing around the huge fire.
Shaking my head as I’m not getting involved in this shit, I skirt the edge of the room and make my way out to my hog. Straddling her, I take out my phone and call Nell. Thankfully, she answers quickly and our conversation takes twenty minutes, but I now know what she can offer Jo and that this Tommaso asshole is still in the wind, so is still a threat to watch out for.
Before I can look for Lincoln’s number, my phone buzzes and I see Lincoln’s name come up. “Hi. I was just gonna call you.” I quickly say before he can speak.
“You need to come to the house tonight. I’m at work, but we need to put our cards on the table. Jo tells me the women from your club are trying to organize some shit for her, but know this Knuckles, I’ll take her and disappear again before I allow anyone to tell Jo what she’s going to do.”
I can hear the anger and stress in Lincoln’s voice. “Nobody is gonna do that. I’ll come over and speak to you. Send me the address and I’ll see you about 7:00.”
Sending me the address, I step back into the clubhouse because I won’t be going to see Lincoln now as I’d planned. If Jo has to stay at the boarding house, one thing is for sure, I’ll be staying with her because I’ll not give Richie or Tank the chance to sway Jo to their side.
Picking up my phone, I text Colton and tell him to get his ass to the gym, where we’re gonna have a serious workout. I need to keep my mind busy and I also have to tell Beer I’ll not be working the door at TJs tonight either.