Outlaws’ Property (Property of Outlaw Sons MC #1)

15. Jessica

15

JESSICA

I close Bonnie’s front door and lean against it.

One day. I’ve been away from Victor’s clutches for one day and I’m already a mess. Pull it together, girl.

As friendly as Ghost, Riot and Tex are, I’m still a hostage here. If I doubted that after what happened at the bar and then just now with Ghost, it was made clear when he walked me straight to her door and waited for me to go inside before leaving.

But to be fair to the Outlaw Sons, I’m still treated better here than I ever was with Victor. If I could choose between being their prisoner or Victor's, it would be an easy call, but will I get to choose? If Hellfire negotiates with Victor and I’m part of the deal, it'd be naive of me to think he’d refuse just because some of his guys might be fond of me.

So far, I’ve let them keep assuming I’m just an employee because I’m scared that if I tell the truth, they’ll think I’m more important than I am. The truth is ugly and complicated, but I can’t believe that just having me to kick around is worth it to Victor on top of everything else that’s happened.

Maybe he’ll finally just forget about me. I’ll miss Anne, but pretty soon she won’t need me anymore anyway.

"Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you coming in?" Bonnie yells from the couch. Anne's curled up next to her, watching her play some sort of story game on the TV while she offers commentary and suggestions. On the table in front of them are empty fast food bags, and Anne's drinking from a cup with a logo that looks a lot like?—

"Is that coffee?"

Anne starts drinking faster like I'm going to rip it away from her.

"Mostly whipped cream, really," Bonnie says. "She'll be fine. There’s a sausage, egg and cheese bagel on the table for you."

I shake my head, but grab the bag. "You guys haven't been playing the whole time since I left, have you?" They're not exactly making it easy to be a responsible nanny here.

"Don't be ridiculous. We made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches last night?—"

"With real butter, and the bread didn’t even have seeds in it!" Anne crows.

"—I made sure she brushed her teeth and got a full night of sleep?—"

"Which was easy since you never came back so I had the whole bed to myself!” There's a hint of an accusation there, but Anne’s also grinning like she knows something funny. It makes me wonder how much Bonnie has told her. Or if she’s treating this like all of the young adult books she's read with over the top romantic drama.

"—and then I had Poe and Crank head out to get us breakfast." Bonnie shrugs. "Anne has been the perfect guest. It's nice to have a gaming buddy again. General and I used to… well, it's nice." She hands the controller to Anne. "Here, why don't you play for a bit, and I'll be right back. I wanna talk to Jessica."

"Okay!" Anne's still acting like she’s on the best vacation ever.

It worries me.

As much as I hate Victor, Anne's innocent in this whole mess. If he really had her mother killed, then she’s almost as much a victim as I am. He treats her like a show pony. A pretty possession to trot out when he wants to play the part, and then lock away when it’s not convenient.

Maybe we aren’t that different. Anne’s only twelve, so she’s playing video games and eating all the junk food she can. Finally given some freedom, I immediately started drinking, kissing bikers and doing… whatever that was with Ghost.

I take a bite of the bagel and nearly have my second orgasm of the day. “Oh my God. This is so good,” I moan.

"Want me to put on a pot of coffee?" Bonnie asks as she closes the door between the kitchen and the living room, isolating us from Anne, who's absorbed in the game.

I don't even drink that much coffee, but with everything else that's going on, why not? I didn't use to drink alcohol or sleep in strange men's beds either, but here I am. "Yes, please."

"Of course." Bonnie smiles. She sets the machine going and pulls out a couple of mugs. "You alright? I got a text from Ghost last night that you were staying with him. I hope he wasn’t too hard on you. He’s a good man, but not always the easiest."

I can't quite meet her eyes. He was quite hard, but maybe not how she meant it. Though, from what little I know about Bonnie, maybe it is. "It was fine. We just got back late and I’d had a few drinks so we didn’t want to bother you."

She laughs at that. "Hah, it takes a lot more than a tipsy nanny to bother me. I bet they just wanted to keep you for themselves. You don’t strike me as the four-way on a first-date type, though."

“A what? Four-way?” Holy crap, I’ve been feeling guilty for a few kisses and some touching and she was wondering if I was… “No! Nothing like that. They took me to the Burnout and bought me drinks. That’s it!”

She raises her well styled eyebrows in silence.

“Okay, there was some kissing, but that’s it.”

More silence.

“Honest! I slept at Ghost’s, but I didn’t sleep with Ghost. Not like that.”

Of course, now my mind is spinning ideas about what a foursome might be like even though I can barely imagine what a one-on-one would be like. I've always had an active imagination, though.

Bonnie nods. "I believe you. If you’d said Riot or Tex, I’d be offering to find you a pregnancy test, but Ghost is too responsible for that. I’m mostly surprised he let you stay with him. He’s usually very private."

Thinking about the photographs on his walls, and the way he reacted when he woke up, that makes sense. I want to ask her questions about him, but I don’t. It feels like a betrayal. I was given a little glimpse into his life, and maybe I’m being silly, but I don’t want to shine a light on it to other people.

There’s finally enough coffee in the pot, and Bonnie pours me a mug before warming her own. “Milk? Sugar?”

I nod. There is something I’m curious about, and in this case, Bonnie is the right one to ask. “Tell me about General. If it’s okay, I mean. You’ve mentioned him a few times, and he’s the one in some of the pictures, right?”

She nods, a wistful look on her face. "He used to be president of the Outlaw Sons. Hellfire was his second in command. Three, four years ago, we took in some new members who weren’t happy with how things were being run. At first it was pretty civil, but they were dragging us in a bad direction. General was never gonna go along with it. When they figured that out, they tried to start a war with the Screaming Eagles as an excuse to take over from the inside.” She snorts. “That’s your first clue they weren’t fit to run anything. They didn’t have the guts to build from the ground up and thought we’d be easy pickings. They shot General and tried to blame it on the other club. It nearly got us all killed, but in the end Hellfire put himself on the line and the Eagles helped us cut out the cancer. I executed the man responsible for General's death myself." Her expression turns rock hard, then softens again and she sighs. "Killed him with my old man’s gun. Didn't bring him back. Felt good, though."

The idea of funny, friendly, caring Bonnie blowing some guy's brains out seems so far-fetched that I don't feel like I should believe her, but I’ve seen a lot in the past couple days and I believe her. There's no denying the anger and sadness mixed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have?—"

She waves it off. "It’s reality. I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself. Part of being an old lady is knowing we take on a certain risk loving the men we do. I knew that going into it, but… Oh, he was my dream man. Still is, even if he's not here anymore. I’ve thought about leaving the club. Most would, and by all rights, Hellfire could boot me out whenever he wants, but this place is my life, and it’s my only connection to the man I love. I might not be wearing my property patch anymore, but it’s always there, and when my time comes and I join him, it’ll go into the ground with me."

"And your game controllers?" I tease, wanting to see her smile.

Her lips quirk upwards. "Maybe those, too. Like Ghost, General was a tough man, but he was good where it counted, right down to his bones. I'll never get him back, but I'll always have those memories."

"No kids?"

She shakes her head. "Nah, it never happened, and then we got old enough that we didn't want to go down that route. In some ways I regret it now, but in a way all these men are my kids." She looks meaningfully at the living room. "I know it’s fucked up and won’t last, but taking care of Anne has been the most fun I’ve had since General died."

I finish my bagel and lick the grease off my fingers even though there’s a napkin right in front of me. I’m just as bad as Anne. "I really appreciate you taking such good care of her. She’s having a blast. God, when I woke up today, I felt so bad, but I don’t think she even noticed I was gone."

"Trust me, she did. Sometimes she goes quiet, and I know she’s dealing with what’s happened, but she’s a good kid. Anyway, finish your coffee. I dug out a bunch more stuff that should fit you. They’ll come for you later and I bet you’d love a shower and a change of clothes before that happens."

"God, yes. I smell like a bar."

Bonnie snorts, then opens the door to the living room. I take a moment to give Anne a hug while she's playing. "Everything okay?"

"Aah! Watch the arm, I'm almost winning this!" A score pops up on the screen, and there seems to be some sort of pause, because she puts her controller down and hugs me back. "I'm okay. It's a little scary, but Bonnie is so nice to me. I know you're doing what you can to make this better."

Am I? Or am I doing everything I can to help myself, and just hoping she’ll be okay? I'm not sure what the right thing to do is. "I'm doing my best. Okay, I'm going to shower."

She wrinkles her nose as she pulls back and grins at me. "Good, you stink."

I gasp in outrage. "No you stink!"

"Don’t care. I have coffee," she snaps back then takes a deep sip from her cup, daring me to stop her.

Bonnie's shower has really nice pressure and a detachable shower head. I scrub myself clean, enjoying some time to myself, and only myself. I've got a lot to think about. At least I think I do, but no matter what I try to focus on, it's Ghost, Riot and Tex that keep floating through my head.

The drinks. The kisses. The rumble of riding behind them on their motorcycles. Ghost touching me this morning, making me touch myself.

And of course Bonnie had to suggest a four-way. How would that even work? The idea of the three of them around me, naked and pressing against me, trading kisses back and forth…

I take her shower head off the hook and rinse off, the thrum of the water beating against my skin lower and lower. I capture my lower lip between my teeth, close my eyes and take it where I want it, teasing myself with bursts of intense pressure and then slow movement along the edge. I brace one hand on the wall and groan, thinking about them and wondering if Ghost is doing the same back in his room like he said. Hot water streams over my tingling nub. I let it build and build and build until I throw my head back with a silent scream of release.