novelxo Knuckles: Chapter 8
-:- JOLENE -:-
Monday morning and I’m going around to clean for Sybil. I really like the way she lets me do what I need to without interfering or spying on my work. I’m excited to show her the text message I received from Tilly’s friend, saying she’d be happy to design the covers for any or all of my books.
Checking the front door is locked, I head out the back door and lock it behind me. Running around to Sybil’s, I knock and walk in, closing the door behind me and turning. I smile when Sybil is sitting at the kitchen table, obviously waiting for me to arrive.
“I didn’t think you were coming this morning.”
“Sorry Sybil, I was a little late as I got a message and was so excited it threw me for a while.” I open the message and hand the phone to Sybil, who reads it, then smiles.
“That’s really good. I’ve got a feeling that you’ll do well with your writing. The stories are just great, and I love that the female characters are not doormats.”
“Lincoln had told me before we came here that I had to get a fighting spirit, and I’ve been trying, but I’m so scared of that man getting me, that it makes me want to run screaming.” Admitting that to Sybil has me realizing the truth. I’ve been letting Lincoln and me down by not fighting back, even though I can only do it in my mind.
“I’ll get you some lessons for whatever is needed to give you confidence. I will not sit here and watch you become a coward or wither into someone you don’t want to be.” Sybil picks her phone up from the kitchen table and walks away, shaking her head and muttering to herself.
Not following Sybil, I head upstairs and make a start on tidying up the bathroom and bedroom.
By lunchtime, I’d cleaned the rooms I had set out to do and finished the ironing that Sybil must have started a couple of days before. The pattering of feet has me looking up as Sybil walks into the utility room.
“It’s time for you to finish, Jo.”
“I’m nearly done. I just want to do this, then I’ll go. Do you need me to do anything before I finish for the day?”
“No, you can leave as soon as you’ve done.”
Once home I grab a meal bar, then put a chicken in the oven for tonight’s meal. Then settle at the table with the laptop and continue typing out the chapters from the first novel.
The time passes fast, and when my phone buzzes it takes me by surprise. Picking it up from where I’d laid it behind the laptop, I see a message from Susanne, who is the lady who does the book covers.
Opening the message, I can’t help but smile when there, in front of me, is a picture of a book cover, with my name on it. The man and woman in the picture look like lovers and are looking into each other’s eyes. Behind the couple is an image with rows of houses. Excellent, I’m thinking, for a girl next door book. I love it and quickly reply, it’s perfect. Now my worry is telling Lincoln I need money to pay this lady for the work she’s done.
Rubbing my eyes with the heel of my hands I’m worried about telling Lincoln I’ve been writing and that I’ll need money for the cover designer, but it’s a case of not being able to publish the book if it doesn’t have a cover.
Pushing negative thoughts back, I drop my eyes back onto the laptop and push myself to start typing once more. I’m nearly halfway through typing out the first book, and if I’m ever going to publish and become an author, I need to get the backbone Sybil wants me to have.
Once Lincoln is home, I make sure he has eaten, and I’ve cleaned up before I steel myself to speak to him about what I’ve been doing. But knocking at the front door has me stiffen and I look at the clock, which shows it’s 7:00 pm. Lincoln goes to the door but doesn’t look worried at all.
Hearing the front door open, I hear Lincoln say, “Come in.” I watch as Knuckles walks into the hallway, and follows Lincoln into the kitchen, where I’m standing looking like an idiot with my mouth hanging open in shock.
“Hi, Jo,” Knuckles says, and takes a seat at the table when Lincoln points to one, before taking one himself.
“Take a seat, Jo,” Lincoln says, and I slowly pull out a chair and sit. Looking from Knuckles to Lincoln and back again.
“I’ve asked Knuckles to come here because of this shit the women of Knuckles’ club are talking about. You’re not going along with any bullshit these women think up. It’s not a fuckin’ game we’re playing. The fucker after you is mafia and we can’t play games with them.”
“Linc, I don’t know what we’re going to do, but the women are trying to help me, well, us. I know how hard your life is and I feel so guilty that you are working every day and fighting to make money for us to survive.” Sniffling as I’m on the verge of crying.
“Jo, none of this is your doing. We were both living our lives and trying to improve ourselves, but this fucker saw you and thought to himself, ‘oh, new toy’, well this toy isn’t happening, and I’ll die if I have to, to make sure he doesn’t get you.” Lincoln responds so calmly that he’s worrying me.
Knuckles taps the table with his fingertips, looking from Lincoln to me, then starts to speak. “I think all of us want to make sure that Jo stays safe. You can’t continue to do it all alone, Lincoln, because this asshole has connections and he’ll have men that he can command. I’ve spoken to Nell, who has a connection with the mafia Don, Vincenzo Vitale. He’s looking into this Tommaso asshole, and more than likely will take the problem from you, but in the meantime, we have to keep you both safe.
“He’ll not think twice about taking you out to get to Jo, and that’s not the way for this to work out. Mia is our President’s woman, Ol’ Lady we call our women, but she’s his wife in all but legality. When a woman becomes an ol’ lady she gets the protection of the club. Every brother in the club would lay down their lives for any of the ol’ ladies, and that’s why the women think Jo should be claimed, so she gets the protection of the MC.
“Now Lincoln, think about it. You are one person. The club is around thirty-six people counting the prospects. Jo will be far safer with that amount of people watching her back than just you.”
Lincoln is looking at Knuckles with a blank face, but I know that means he’s considering what’s being said. “I understand what you are saying, but why would you even get involved?”
Knuckles looks a little offended, but recovers the stoic look he often has on his face. Well, that’s the face I’ve usually seen at the fight nights.
“The club has done a lot of recovery of women in bad situations. It never sits well with us that a woman may be stolen, forced against her will, in either a marriage or otherwise, we also never stand by and watch a woman being beaten.
“I don’t know how much you know about the Raging Barons MC, but I can tell you that many are ex-servicemen, some special forces, and they have come together in the club to find a home, family, and purpose.
“Not a single one of those brothers would watch a woman in a bad position and do nothing about it. Myself, I’m not and never have been in the service, but I know what’s right and wrong and I’ll stand with any and all my brothers to protect the women, and now the twins that belong to Mia and Axel.”
Lincoln sighs before rubbing the back of his neck. Looking at me thoughtfully before turning back to speak to Knuckles. “What your women suggest, that one of you claim her? What does that mean?”
“Claiming a woman in the MC is the same as claiming a wife. She will be the partner of that brother, living together either at the club or at a home of their own. Most start out at the club and progress to leasing or purchasing a place of their own.
“We don’t have club whores and if any of the brothers want to hook up or meet a woman, we do it the conventional way by going to TJs which is co-owned by one of the brothers and two of the ol’ ladies. We have Club Whisky where we all help out either on the door or behind the bar, anywhere we’re needed.” Knuckles continues, “We are a family, a brotherhood, and if you both decide to get involved, you’ll be brought in as one of us. That also means you’ll need to be as invested as we all are. What did you see in your future, before all this happened?” Knuckles looks at Lincoln and then at me when he asks the question.
“I wanted to join up, always wanted to be an Army Ranger,” Lincoln responds and my heart drops because he’s never told me that, and all this and looking after me has stopped him from doing what is his dream.
“Jo?” Knuckles asks and I swallow hard before I reply because at the moment I want to cry that my brother has had to put his life and dreams in the trash because of me.
“An author. I write stories, and in the past, I wrote them and then threw them in the trash can. Now, with the help of Sybil and the ladies from your club, I’m going to publish what I have written and still have.” Turning to Lincoln, who grabs ahold of my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I wanted to speak to you about the publishing of the books. Amelia and Bitty gave me a laptop to type out the books from my A4 notebooks, and Tilly contacted a friend who designs covers. She has a cover made for my first book, and I was going to speak to you Linc about finding the money to pay her for it.”
“We’ll find the money. We can take it out of our fund.” The fund Lincoln mentions is the money we have put away in case we have to run again or we can eventually purchase a house to live in.
“I’ll pay you back the money, Linc. I’ve my wages coming from Sybil, and I may make some money if anyone buys my books. Someone called Specs has all the information for me to sell on Amazon, and said they’d help me set up an account and everything else I need to do,” I quickly blurt.
Knuckles grins before surprising both me and Lincoln. “That there is exactly what I’m talking about. The women have come together to find a solution. A brother has made sure he’ll do what he can without asking for anything in return. That is what the MC family is about when you are one of the Raging Barons.”
“I want Jo to have choices. She’s had to do what she’s been told for so long that she’s not growing into the woman that she should be. When she was a kid, she was a fiery little thing, but life has knocked hard on her door over time and it’s making her timid and I don’t want that for her. I want her to choose what she wants to do with her life and who she’s with,” Lincoln says forcefully.
“What do you want to do, Jo? You have choices. You can stay here and hope for the best. You can go to Nell’s boarding house and she’ll keep you safe along with Richie and Tank, or you can come with me to the club and I’ll claim you as mine. You’ll be protected by the club and by me as my woman. We won’t have to do anything but get to know one another and when this is over, if you feel you’d like to give us a chance, then we’ll do that.
“But I’ve got to say for some reason I feel protective of you, and have from the minute Lincoln asked me to watch you that night at the fight. It’s strange, as I’ve never looked at having an ol’ lady, but you feel like mine and I’d like to see if that is a true feeling or not.”
Blinking fast as tears cloud my eyes, I look at Knuckles and if I’m honest with myself, I’ve felt drawn to him from the first time I met him, too. I turn and look at Lincoln, and he sees the conflict on my face.
“We can go to the club if you want to be with Knuckles. But I’ll not leave you until I know this asshole is gone and you’re safe.”
Knuckles nods. “That’s the attitude that we all have at the club, Lincoln. We all have that sense of honor that you are throwing out. Yes, Jo is your sister, and you love her, but you have this need to serve and protect. That’s why your heart wants to be a Ranger, and while you’re away being a Ranger, I’ll make sure Jo is safe, whether we’re together or not, that I vow.”
“Okay. I’ll go with you Knuckles and I’d like to take it slow, see how we like each other when we get to know more, as we hardly know each other at all, but I agree that there is an attraction for me too. But Lincoln, will you come too? Or what will you do? Because I won’t leave you alone in case that man finds you.” I’m nervous about the decision I just made, but for some odd reason, it feels right.
“I’ll come to the clubhouse, but it’ll take me a couple of days to sort everything out, and I’ll have to let the lease go on this place. Get what you need to take for now, and I’ll come over to the clubhouse with you. We’ll follow Knuckles once I’ve sorted a few things out here.” Lincoln says, looking stressed and worried.
“Why don’t we throw things into your truck and I’ll drive over with Jo? You can come over on my bike, but you take care of her because she’s my baby. One scratch and you’ll be meeting me in the fighting ring.” When Knuckles gives a half-grin a dimple pops out, and I’m staring at it because it changes the whole look of him. It softens the aura that is around him.
When I hear a growling noise, I look up in surprise and Knuckles is shaking his head. “It was the fuckin’ dimple, wasn’t it? You got that look on your face that I often see when I forget and smile. Those dimples will be the death of me yet.”
Lincoln chuckles and slaps Knuckles on the shoulder, shaking his head. “Now, if the dimples have women falling over themselves, I’ll have to see if I can get me some.”
We rush around getting our things and Knuckles makes this all feel real. Lincoln is watching me closely, but I wrap my arms around him and smile. “Let’s do this Linc, we can’t do it on our own and I like Knuckles. I hope this is the right thing, but I’ll never know unless I give it a try. I want you to have your life too and you can’t do that if you are forever putting my life first.”
“I have never minded looking after you, and I will always be here if you need me. But having more people watching you will make it easier for me to keep you safe. That is a fact, and if it doesn’t work out with Knuckles, he’s not the type of man to force anything. See how it goes, and we’ll move on. Now come on, get your ass in gear, and I’ll meet up with you a little later.”
Once the truck is packed and Knuckles has handed over the keys to his bike, I climb into the passenger seat after I hug Lincoln and agree we’ll see each other later. Looking over at Knuckles, he smiles and shakes his head when my eyes pop over to his dimples and we set off for the clubhouse.
Driving down the main road, we pass the few houses on either side, and the cross junction is coming up where we’ll turn right. I tuck the laptop under the passenger seat and place my coat on top of it to stop it from moving around and getting damaged.
“Things will work out Jo, we’ll take it slow and get to know each other. I’ll take you with me so you can meet everyone, but the women I’m sure will get you involved in all sorts of things.”
Nodding, I turn to reply and my eyes notice a van right before it hits Knuckles’ door. I scream when the truck flips over, and my head bangs against the passenger door window right before everything turns black.