Ruin’s Embattlement (Tenillo Guardians AIMC #19)

Ruin Chapter 3

My teeth were about to pulverize in my mouth from clenching them so hard. It was all I could do not to go down the hall and barge into Desi’s room. I needed to know what the hell was really going on in there. The excuse the guy needed to see some bullshit form or whatever didn’t fly with me. The bastard had been out all day with her, but I guess having Shane along had cramped his style. He needed alone time with her. No doubt, he took Shane with them to score points with her.

Images of what they might be doing in there filled my head. I wanted to scream at my family. Didn’t any of them see what was happening here? They acted like it was no big deal for a man to be in Desi’s bedroom with the door closed. Things have changed since I moved out. There was no way in the past any of us would’ve been allowed to have someone in our room that way.

Luckily, I was distracted by the arrival of Skye, Executioner, Jasmine, and Josh. They greeted all of us, and the kids joined Shane playing on the floor. I tried to stay on top of the conversations, but it was hard.

After ten tense minutes, I was about to rise to my feet to go after Desi and her “friend” when they reappeared. They were both smiling. I scanned Desi from head to toe to see if I saw any indication they’d been fooling around. Her hair and clothes seemed to be in order. Her face was flushed, but her lips didn’t seem to be overly red or swollen. He glanced at her and wiggled his eyebrows, making her giggle.

“I need Tanner and Tyson to set the table, please. Isaiah, if you and Desi will help me get everything dished up and carried to the table, we can eat. Omen, please make sure everyone has a drink. Skye and Ex, I’m leaving you in charge of the kids,” Mom interjected.

This had us all scattering to do as she asked. You didn’t fool with Mom when it came time to do things. Overall, she was the sweetest mom in the world, but she had a tough side. One I noted she showed more since she’d gotten with Omen.

Everything was done in short order, and we all sat down at the dinner table. The kids had a small table next to the big one. It sat lower, so they didn’t need booster seats. My mouth watered from smelling and seeing everything. Mom knew the way to my heart.

“Everything looks delicious, Mrs. Bodreaux,” Konrad told her.

“Please, call me Jackie. We’re not formal around here. Thank you, but I can’t take all the credit. Isaiah helped me. A couple of these are his recipes that I forced him to give me.” She smiled at the asshole.

“I didn’t do that much. We didn’t get back in time, but you know, I’ll give you all the recipes I have. Most were my grandmother’s, although Mom added a few.” His smooth answer made me want to plant my fist in his face.

“So, Isaiah, are you a chef? Is that what you went to college for?” Konrad asked.

“No, it’s just a hobby. I enjoy it, and it relaxes me. Jackie is sweet enough to let me do it with her. I went to school for civil engineering.”

“How did you and Desi meet? Did she take the same classes?” Kon asked. I guess I didn’t tell him what her degree was.

This question made her laugh. “God, no. I couldn’t do what Isaiah does. My degree is in business finance. We met during one of our general course requirements. We hit it off, and he’s been here ever since.”

“What exactly does a civil engineer do?” Konrad asked.

I gave him a puzzled look. Why was he so interested in this asshole? My friend ignored me. Platters and bowls were being passed around, and people filled their plates.

“Anything to do with designing, building, and maintaining natural and physical structures such as roads, canals, bridges, airports, pipelines, railways, sewer systems, and the like. I’ve always loved coming up with plans and trying to build them. There’s no way I want to look at numbers and spreadsheets all day as Desi does.”

“Hey, I happen to love spreadsheets and numbers,” she objected as she poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

“I know. You’re a sick individual,” he said with a grin.

As they good-naturedly bickered, my appetite fled. That used to be Desi and me. We’d laugh, tease, and have so much fun. It was effortless. Seeing her having that kind of relationship with someone else drove home how much I lost, how badly it hurt, and how desperate I was to get it all back.

I knew if I didn’t eat, Mom would ask why, and I wasn’t about to spill my guts. I forced myself to eat. It was good even if he had helped make it and provided some recipes. As the meal progressed, it became more than evident he’d wormed his way into my family. Everyone seemed to like him, even Tyson. I experienced resentment. How could they allow someone to deceive them, especially Omen and Executioner?

Of course, dinner wasn’t complete without dessert. I had to have some of it since it was my favorite chocolate cream pie. When we were finished, the ladies cleaned up the kids while we men put away leftovers, wiped things clean, put dishes in the dishwasher, and washed and dried the pots that wouldn’t fit. Isaiah was in the middle of it, too. When was he going home?

Gathering back in the living room when we were finished, we found spots to sit. I maneuvered it, so I was on the oversized couch with Desi and Konrad. Desi was talking to Konrad, but I could tell she was stiff. Goddamn it, I needed to start working on us becoming friends again, but not with all these eyes on us, especially Isaiah’s. Dad and Executioner were talking about something I wasn’t able to hear.

Suddenly, Tyson stood up. He appeared nervous. The rest of us got quiet. “Since everyone is here, I need to make an announcement.”

“Go ahead. What’s on your mind?” Omen asked. Mom was sitting in his chair on his lap, and Skye was doing the same to Executioner in the other chair.

“I’m finishing my degree in a few months and have decided what I want to do with it. I’ve thought long and hard.” He paused to allow us to say something, but no one did. He continued, “I want to go into the military, the Navy, and use my computer skills there. Since I’ll have a degree, I can go in as an officer and then go from there. I’ve already talked to a recruiter about what I can do. Dad, I don’t want you, Ex, or Ruin to be upset. I know this is a Marine household, but I feel better suited for the Navy, no disrespect.”

I was a little stunned. Tyson had never told me he wanted to serve, and based on the others’ expressions, he hadn’t told them either.

“Son, no one is upset that you want to go into the Navy, but are you sure? Please don’t feel pressured to enlist just because we did. We want you to do what makes you happy,” Omen said first.

“Yeah, Ty, there’s no expectation you do it. If you are doing it to join the club, we don’t expect every one of our kids to join. Though it would be great,” Executioner added. Tyson held up his hands to stop us as I was about to say the same thing to him.

“I know this. I don’t feel pressured to go into the military or join the club because of all of you. With that said, I may want to be part of the club one day, but I want to see what the Navy is like. I might want to be like Trident and make it a career so I get a retirement. I’m looking forward to finding out. I wanted to tell you first, then the rest of the club. Phantom offered to let me work with him, but I think it’s better the way it is with him and Tamysin doing it. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate all the tricks they’ve shown me,” he said with a grin. I couldn’t imagine what they had taught him.

“Honey, as long as you’re happy, I will be. I think it’s great you took the time to think everything through. I have a suggestion. When we’re done here, why don’t you and whoever wants to go with you head over to the clubhouse, and you can start announcing it? They’ll want to celebrate with you, and you know, they’ll have a ton of advice,” Mom informed him.

“I’d like that,” he responded.

His news kind of broke up the gathering. It wasn’t long before we were going in different directions. The ladies said they’d stay at the house with the kids. The men were going to the clubhouse. The only exception was Isaiah. He congratulated Tyson but said he had to get home. I had to watch as he hugged and shook hands with my family. I grudgingly shook his hand when he held it out. At least he walked out to his car when we left to go to the clubhouse. I didn’t need to worry about him finding a way back in Desi’s bedroom.

As we walked along, Konrad said quietly, so I was the only one to hear him, “If looks could kill, that Isaiah dude would be dead. You’d better watch letting that show. Seems the fam loves the guy.”

“Don’t remind me. I don’t know what his game is, but I’m gonna find out and put a stop to it. Desi is fragile. She doesn’t need someone playing games with her.” I hoped he knew that went for any guy, not just Isaiah. My worries over them were put on hold as we entered the clubhouse and got down to watching Tyson share his news.

???

It was hard to believe it was a whole week since I got home. The past week had flown by. After Tyson announced his decision to join the Navy on Saturday night, it had been an ongoing celebration mood. Not everyone was there, so he told the others the next day. Ty was getting advice left and right. His smiles told me he was happy with his decision and the responses.

As for me, I took the time to settle in as a member, not a prospect as I’d expected. First, I moved my things from my room in the clubhouse to a trailer out back. There were ten of them. Hazard and Arrow were in two of them since all the other members were in houses with their families, which left me eight to pick from. Once I did, I got the remainder of the things I’d stored at Dad and Mom’s house out of the attic and moved those to my trailer.

In addition, I was getting up to speed on the various bylaws and businesses that the club owned. Every member either started or worked at one of the businesses. While I had the skills of a CI, that wasn’t what I planned to do for the club, or at least not unless necessary. Instead, I wanted to be able to tap into my creative side. I had always loved to draw, and as I got older, I learned spray painting. Before going into the Marines, I’d put those two together.

While in, more than a few guys had asked me to paint designs and scenes on their cars, trucks, and bikes. That led me to choose to work at Infidels’ Custom Motors. I would be one of the guys who did detailed paint jobs on the bikes, cars, and trucks they built. My designs would grace them. I was stoked. In addition, Phantom had asked if I’d draw some more tattoo designs for his shop. I’d done some in high school, and he was always looking for more.

With that decision made and blessed by the other members, I spent my first week at Custom, learning the ins and outs of it. I’d helped as a teenager at various club businesses, but never in-depth. There was the register to learn, the inventory system, coworkers to meet, and more. Each night, when I returned from work, I’d hang out with Konrad.

He was spending his time learning about the club and what we did for businesses. He shadowed several of the guys to work. In the evening, when we’d hang out, maybe have a drink in the clubhouse, he excitedly talked about what he did. I had no doubt he’d be asking to prospect. Due to all of this, I hadn’t had a chance to start my effort to win Desi back as my friend. We might never be best friends again, but I needed us to be friends at least.

Tonight was the end of the work week. As much as possible, the club tried not to have us work on the weekends. We had civilian employees for that, although if necessary, we would. We were on call for issues twenty-four seven.

After getting home from work, I showered and grabbed dinner out in town with Konrad before we went to the clubhouse to hang out. I had no idea who would be there, but being a Friday night, the majority of people likely would stop in at some point.

When we got there, it was after nine o’clock. I hadn’t gotten home from work until after six. We ate at the Golden Lotus, my favorite Chinese place in town. Konrad was still raving about it.

“Damn, with the food the ladies cook, and if the other restaurants in town are as good as the Lotus, how does anyone stay in shape?”

“There are several places like it, and the answer is we work out. You’ve been running with me every morning. I haven’t hit our gym yet, but we will this weekend. I need to get back to it,” I told him.

He groaned. “Man, you’ve not lifted weights for a whole week. Stop the press. Let me guess. You’ll stick to the same exercise routines you had in the Corps?”

“Why mess with them?”

“God, I thought I was getting out of the Corps,” he moaned.

I gave him a shove. “Quit your whining, pussy.”

He tried to give me pathetic looks, but it didn’t work on me. Going to the bar, I saw Niam was behind it. He still didn’t impress me. And even though I was patched in, his attitude hadn’t improved. He skated right along the edge of being insubordinate. I knew he resented that I came home and got patched after doing very little time as a prospect when compared to his three months of being one daily. If it had been anyone but him, I would’ve felt bad.

He pretended he didn’t see us. I had to yell to get him to acknowledge me. “Hey, Niam, we need two beers down here,” I called out.

There were a lot of voices, but it wasn’t so loud you couldn’t hear me. It took me yelling it two times to get him to turn in our direction. He threw up his hand, I assume to acknowledge that he had heard me. He took his time getting and bringing them to our end of the bar. When he sat them down hard, I’d had enough.

“Prospect, I’d watch the attitude. If you pull this with the other guys, you’ll be gone so fast your head will spin. This is your one warning from me.”

I could tell he was biting his tongue not to smart off, but somehow he didn’t. “Is there anything else I can get you?” he asked. I thought he might choke on the words.

“Not at the moment.”

Grabbing our beers, I headed to an open table. Kicking out my chair, I sat down. Konrad sat next to me and then remarked, “Boy, it chaps his ass to have to do anything for you. He’s going to be a problem, Ruin. It’s written all over him.”

“I know he is, which means the club needs to get hot on bringing in more prospects. Have you decided yet? Are you going to give it a go?”

“I like what I’ve seen, so the answer is yes. How do I go about it?”

“First, since I’m a member, I can sponsor you. I’ll bring it up at church that you want to prospect. Assuming the members are for it, and I don’t see why they won’t be, we’ll have Phantom do your background check. If that turns out fine, which it better, they’ll make you a formal offer to start. From there, it’s up to you. I’ve warned you what you might be asked to do. There’s more, but you won’t know those until you’re an actual prospect. Depending on how you do, you could be a patched member in a year or so or kicked to the curb if you fuck up. Don’t fuck up. It’ll reflect on me.”

“Hmm, if I mess up, will they kick your ass? Because if they will, I might have to think about it,” he joked.

“They might, or they could reduce my portion of the profits from the businesses, make me pay a fine, give me extra duties, and so on.”

“Wait, back up. I thought you made your money from working at Custom Motors. You get more than just that?”

“Yeah, we do. All the various businesses pay into a main pot after all other things are taken into account, such as taxes, overhead, and insurance. From that, based on time and other duties, we’re paid. If you’re a manager of one, like Saint is over Custom, you get a bigger percentage. In addition, if you are an officer, you get additional pay since there’s work that goes with those positions on top of the jobs they do. As new businesses are added, those cuts are adjusted.”

He whistled. “And there’s how many businesses, a dozen? Wow. You can make bank.”

“You can, but they expect you to work for it. No one glides along. And it’s not without risks. I can’t say much about those, so be sure.”

“I am. I really love what I’ve seen. When is church?”

“Monday night. I’ll bring it up then. Now, enough talk about that. Let’s drink this, and then we need to get in on a game of pool.”

That’s precisely what we did. I got so involved in the games that I forgot what was coming later. Last weekend, since it was such a big family event for me to be home, the hang arounds were told to stay away. I was told that by Omen. That restriction was raised tonight. Now, there weren’t as many as there used to be coming around, but there were still those who wanted to party and sleep with bikers. Konrad would be a catch as a prospective one. That left five of us, well, six, if Tyson was there, for them to chase. I had no doubt he got attention, too, even if he wasn’t an official Infidel.

I realized all this when the door opened, and five women walked in. They must’ve come together. They were dressed to attract attention. Their clothing was scant and left nothing to the imagination. To me, they were similar to those Konrad and I saw when we’d go out to the enlisted club or other bars near the base. Military guys attracted a lot of women like them, too. I wouldn’t lie. I’d hooked up with some. However, as I eyed these girls, I found I had no desire to see if any would go back to my trailer with me. I was surprised. Not that I was a manwhore, but I was a healthy guy in his twenties, and it had been a while. Konrad whistled.

“Are these the hang arounds you told me about?”

“They are. Just remember, the days of screwing in the common room are over. You can’t be sure an old lady might not walk in. Take whoever you pick to your room. Oh, and they have to be out of here by eight in the morning unless they stick to your room. Again, we don’t want the old ladies and kids seeing them.”

“Did the club really have sex out in the open?”

“The way I heard it, yeah. They had bunnies, too, but they were let go several years ago.”

I was busy explaining to him why when all five of the women walked up to the pool tables. We were playing against Arrow and Hazard. I guess the women had been here before and knew who was taken and not to bother them.

“Hi, Arrow, Hazard, it’s good to see you again. What was up with last weekend? No one was allowed in. I came and was told I had to go back to town.” One of them pouted.

“We had family shit,” he answered.

“Well, I’m glad it’s over. Who are your friends? And what’s this? A new member? Oh, please tell us, you two aren’t taken,” another one stated. She was checking out my cut. They’d see me as fresh meat. To be honest, I wasn’t into it. I hated drama when it came to women.

Hazard spoke up. “This is our brother, Ruin. He and his buddy Konrad here have just gotten out of the Marines. They were the reason for the celebration last weekend. I’ll leave you to introduce yourselves, ladies.”

They clamored to tell us their names and set out to get us to accept their companionship for the night. They didn’t go in full force, but I knew they’d become more insistent as time went by. I wasn’t rude. I didn’t want to fuck up Hazard, Konrad, and Arrow’s chances for the night. I didn’t see my brother anywhere. As for Niam, I didn’t give a damn about his odds.

They tried the obvious ploy of asking us to show them how to play pool. I went along with it. The only thing was, I worked to avoid them rubbing all over me. We’d been at it maybe an hour, and they’d had a couple of drinks. I’d had another beer. I caught sight of one of them, her name was Mona, stumbled. I reached out to keep her from falling. She latched onto my arm and snuggled up against me.

Shit, I’d fallen for one of the biggest tricks in the book. I gave her a pleasant look as I stated, “If you’re unsteady, you should sit down. Here, let me help you to a chair.” I tried to maneuver her to a nearby chair. She wasn’t budging. Short of picking her up or shoving her, I was stuck with her. I tried again.

“Mona, I need my arms to play. Let go.”

“Oh, come on, Ruin, it’s time to say goodnight to the others. You and I need private time. Your bed in your trailer is waiting for us. I know what tigers you Marines are in the sack. I can’t wait.”

“There’s no going anywhere with me. I’m not interested. Maybe one of the others is, but I’m calling it a night.” I peeled her grasping hands off my arm and gently pushed her toward Arrow.

As I did, Konrad leaned over and said in my ear, “Are you passing her up because you saw how upset your foster sister was?”

I came to attention and scanned the room. I didn’t see Desi anywhere. “Where is she?”

“She left. I’m not sure why she was here, but when she saw you and Mona, she hightailed it out of here. Surely, you’re not letting her keep you from a night of fun.”

“It has nothing to do with Desi. I’m not in the mood. Listen, have fun and I’ll see you in the morning. I’m tired.”

He tried to get me to stay, but after a good five minutes of me saying no, he gave up. I left them to deal with the ladies. After I got to my trailer, I stripped and showered the scent of their perfume off me. The smell was cloying. Sliding into bed, I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept thinking back to Desi. Had she been upset by seeing me with those women? If so, why? She wanted nothing to do with me. It took me a while to slip off to sleep. I kept going in circles as to why the thought of her not liking it pleased me.

???

I was up by six the next morning because of the dream I had last night. It was one I hadn’t had in a while and one I worked hard not to have at all. Despite my best efforts, I never seemed able to stop it and a few others. I had it less often when I was away from home, but being back here had brought it to the surface.

It was one I’d been having for the past four years. I had it for the first time a few months before going to boot camp. I was ashamed of it. If anyone knew, God knows what they’d say or do. I felt dirty every time I dreamed of it. It involved Desi. She was my sister. I shouldn’t be having sexual fantasies about her. The renewed guilt over it was what had me out of bed after barely four hours of sleep. Maybe I should’ve let Mona come back to my place last night. If I had, I wouldn’t be thinking of Desi.

Konrad wouldn’t be up, and neither would anyone else. I made myself breakfast, then went to the gym in the clubhouse. I worked out for an intense hour before going for a long run. I hoped to exhaust myself so my brain would stop thinking about the dream.

It was about ten o’clock when I found Konrad in the common room. He looked like he had a long night. Getting a cup of coffee from the kitchen, I went to join him. He gave me a halfhearted chin lift.

“Should I ask how your night went?” I asked.

He groaned. “No, you shouldn’t. I had too many beers, and then I ended up fighting off company. It was all I could do to get rid of her. Shit, why didn’t I go to bed when you did?”

“You didn’t take one of the eager ladies to bed?” I asked in astonishment.

“It wasn’t from their lack of effort, but no, I didn’t. I decided they weren’t what I wanted.”

I was shocked. Out of the two of us, he was by far the most prominent lady’s man. In our Marine group of friends, he slept alone the least.

“Well, we’re not sitting here all day. Let’s go into town, and I’ll show you around. If you’re staying, then you need to know where things are and where you should avoid. Come on, no moaning and groaning. Get up,” I told him. He lagged behind, but I got him moving after a bit of prodding. Going out to my truck, we got in, and I set out for town. We’d grab some lunch after I showed him the sights.

He perked up when we got there. We’d been at it for a couple of hours when I decided to stop and introduce him to The Hangout, the club’s bar and restaurant. As we pulled into the parking lot, it was clear they were doing brisk business as usual. It was hard to find an open parking spot. Luckily, I finally found one.

Walking inside, a new host met us at the door. I no longer knew everyone. He noted my cut. “Do you want to sit in the reserved section or one of the open tables?” he asked.

I didn’t want to take up a needed regular table, but they wouldn’t use the extra spots for overflow if we sat in the reserved area. It had way more tables they could fill. “A regular table is fine. We’re not picky.”

“Then follow me,” he said as he picked up two menus. We weaved our way through the crowded dining room. We were shown to a two-person table along the wall. It was perfect. As we sat, he asked what he could get us to drink. After giving our orders, our host assured us our waitress would be with us shortly, and he’d be back with our drinks.

Konrad was busy checking out the place. “Man, is it busy like this all the time, or just on the weekends?”

“It’s like this most of the time. Weekdays are a tad lighter, but not a lot. At night, especially Friday and Saturday nights, it’s packed. We have live bands on those nights, and they bring in the crowds not only to drink but also to dance.”

We sat there talking. It wasn’t long before we had our drinks, and our waitress came to get our orders. I was in a good mood until those were placed. Konrad was looking around the room again, and he brought something to my attention. As soon as he did, my mood soured.

“Hey, look, it seems like Isaiah and Desi had the same idea as we did.”

Following his eyes, I found them. They were at a two-person table like us. They had their heads together, and whatever they were talking about, they were intent on it. Desi was shaking her head as he nodded his. Instantly, I was struck with the need to know what they were talking about.

“Let’s go say hello,” I said as I stood.

“Sure.”

We wound our way through the tables to theirs. Isaiah saw us when we were about five feet or so away. His smile barely faltered, but I caught it before he fixed it. His mouth moved. He must’ve told Desi because moments later, her head snapped around, and our gazes met. I tried to read the expression she wore, but it was hard. She’d gotten good at hiding them. Something she hadn’t been able to do before I left for boot camp. We stopped a foot away from them.

“Fancy seeing you here. I thought I should show Konrad the sights. The Hangout can’t be missed. What’re you two up to today? Where’s Shane?” I recalled last Saturday, they took him with them.

I noticed Desi stiffened when I asked what they were doing, but she stiffened even more after I asked where Shane was. Instantly, I knew she recalled when I criticized her parenting of him a couple of years ago. It was what finally killed our friendship. Shit, I didn’t mean it that way. Great start to mending fences, Ruin , I thought to myself. Before I could clarify, Isaiah answered rather than her.

“We’re just enjoying the day. I needed Desi to help me with some decorating at my house. We’re going there after lunch. As for Shane, he asked to stay with PawPaw and MawMaw. They were taking him somewhere—I’m not sure where. They said it was a surprise.”

My hackles rose at his mention of her being in his house. It meant they’d be alone. I had to find a way to stop it.