Tyrant (Kings of Carnage MC: Alabama #1)

Chapter 15

Blair

A week passes, swiftly turning into two as I begin to find my place at the Kings of Carnage clubhouse. Tyrant wasn’t joking when he said his brothers are fine with me being here, at least if they mind, they certainly haven’t made it known to me. It’s the opposite. In fact, they are all quickly becoming my favorite people aside from Tyrant. The brothers all greet me each day when they see me, they’re not overly cheery or anything, but they are kind.

Even Havoc, the one I was certain didn’t like me from the moment I entered his clubhouse, has proven me wrong. In fact, some days he even brings me along to help out at his bar while Tyrant and the others take care of whatever they have to. He says it’s because he can use the help on his bar renovations, but I know it’s really because Tyrant is worried about my safety. He hasn’t told me what has him concerned, but my guess is Josef isn’t keeping quiet about looking for me and the club is catching wind of it.

“What did you think?” one of the club girls asks, as she turns to me. The movie we’d been watching just ended and it’s one she swore I’d love. Apparently, it’s a favorite of hers and once everyone found out I hadn’t watched television in a long time, they’ve made it their mission to have me watch all the ‘good ones.’

“Eh,” I shrug.

Her mouth drops as she releases a horrified gasp. “What? No way!”

Laughing, I grin and admit, “It wasn’t bad. Probably my favorite out of the bunch so far.”

“I still can’t believe you never watched Edward Scissorhands when you were growing up. It’s a fall time staple, and perfect to get in the Christmas spirit. It’s…it’s so romantic,” Twilah Jane says the last word breathily, making me laugh some more. She shuts the TV off, kicking her booted feet to the floor and stands, tugging her jean skirt down half an inch. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around women who wear so little clothes and it’s taking some getting used to. Even in college, we didn’t have our butt cheeks hanging out half the time, so it’s a little awkward for me to hang out around here when they have so much skin on display.

“Do you all do anything around here for the holidays?”

We decorated in the community, but it wasn’t the traditional sort of things you’d see out in the regular world. We’d make handmade ornaments, sometimes with scripture the Profit spoke on. We never cut down trees or anything to preserve nature. Not being able to have much of anything really put the stop in doing much extra aside from wishing each other well and saying prayers for specific people. A gift was considered as someone praying over you and repeating the Profit’s words as a blessing. A celebration was the community eating together, singing, and dancing.

It was nothing like the cheesy homemade ornaments we used to make as a child to hang on our Christmas tree along with the colorful strands of lights. Before that, during Halloween, I’d help my grandmother and mother make homemade costumes. Then we’d go together to the church where there would be fun booths set up in the parking lot. I’d get far too much candy and popcorn balls, but my parents never minded. My father helped me eat most of it.

For Thanksgiving, each year we’d be surrounded by family, a big group of us eating, along with my father and grandfather watching football. Of course, there was always praying involved, but it was never anything as serious as what was expected from us in The House of Worship. My knees ache just thinking back on the New Year’s ritual. We’d be forced to kneel all day long, praying for the upcoming year. It was always to bless the Profit and speak our undying devotion to him and his path. I can see it now for what it truly was, another method to remind us of his place and give over our individual control.

“Earth to Blair,” Twilah Jane calls, flicking her fingers in front of my face. “Did you hear me?”

I shake my head, cheeks feeling warm at being caught zoning out. “I was remembering the holidays before. We used to make homemade ornaments when I was a kid.” I leave out the part about what was expected at The House of Worship. People won’t understand any of it or why I did it, so aside from Tyrant, I keep most everything about my time with Josef to myself.

“I didn’t do any of that. Our trailer didn’t usually have power during the winter, so we spent most nights around the holidays at my Mawmaw’s to stay warm. She smoked like a train and had five cats. Christmas traditions weren’t really her thing, ya know?”

I nod, but I have no clue. I guess we all have a little fucked up in our lives in some way. I was lucky to have electric and caring parents before I found myself entrenched in the abusive ways of the cult, she’s lucky to have the MC to offer her a life she didn’t have before, one with electricity year-round. “What were you saying you do here?”

“Typically, a Halloween party, but we skipped this year since you’d just gotten to the club.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry.”

She waves me off. “Oh honey, no, it’s fine. We party around here all the time. We all know how important it is for you to get used to everything around the clubhouse. You’re Tyrant’s wife, his ol’ lady, and none of us want to mess that up for the big guy.”

“Thank you.”

She nods, offering a kind smile. “Next up, for Thanksgiving, Henley will be doing a lot of the cooking. We’ll help with whatever he needs, of course.”

“Yum,” I find myself commenting before I can stop myself.

“Exactly. That man can cook like nobody else. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.”

“Does anyone visit family?”

She hums to herself, thinking for a beat before shaking her head. “No, not really. One year some members came over from the Georgia club. I’d barely gotten here, though; I’d just graduated and was trying to find my place. They had some seriously hot prospects, but they were related to the OG Prez, so I didn’t get to fuck any of ‘em.”

“You went to college?”

She laughs, looking at me like I’m crazy. “Oh, God no. As soon as I got my diploma from Wahoma High, I was hitching a ride up the hill to the clubhouse. I knew there was only one place I wanted to be and it was with the local MC. It was the right move; I always knew I was destined for greater things than my momma and daddy.”

I nod. We clearly have different ideas with what we wanted in life, but now that I’ve lived life a bit as an adult, I see nothing wrong with spending an easy life around here. With the way Tyrant dotes on me, I can even see myself being happy. Possibly fulfilled, if he helps me get my daughter back. Which we spoke to a lawyer last week about my options. They aren’t good, but we’re taking the steps to get there. At least that’s what Bo Robinson promised during our consultation. I’m hoping he keeps his word and files the restraining order this week, so I have some sort of legal protection between me and Josef.

I shudder, thinking of how he’ll react when he gets the notice from law enforcement. He’ll be furious to be bothered by them in the first place, then when he realizes what their visit entails, well, someone will be getting punished. I don’t doubt it for a moment. I’ll be saying a prayer for whoever it is, as I will wear the guilt from their impending punishment on my conscious.

“You’ll still be here, right, hun?” She asks, drawing my attention to her once more.

Will I still be here? I suddenly can’t picture myself anywhere else. Tyrant has become someone special to me and the clubhouse is growing on me day by day. The only thing tugging at my heart is my daughter. Not even my parents at this point, after my walk through the community, my relationship with them has been forever changed. “I plan on it, yes. I only hope I’ll have my daughter by my side.”

“Don’t you worry, that lawyer’s a good one. He’s gotten the guys out of trouble a couple of times. Without him, they’d be in jail.”

Well, that doesn’t make me feel any better. The lawyer may be good at criminal law, but what about custody and family law? Inwardly I groan, not wanting to think of the uphill battle this will surely be, when I only want to picture the ending where I finally have my little girl back in my arms.

“Sugar,” Tyrant growls as he strides towards me. I didn’t hear his motorcycle pull up, so I must’ve been paying better attention to the movie than I realized.

“Hi,” I offer a smirk, loving the gleam I see reflected back at me in his stare. He’s just as eager to see me as I am him. He towers over Twilah Jane and me, raising a brow in her direction as if to silently ask why she’s still here.

“I’ll catch you later, Blair,” she says and heads for the guys making their way out front.

“Okay, thanks for the movie,” I call, not wanting to be impolite.

“Movies without me?” Tyrant rumbles and I grin, then nod. We usually watch one or two each night before bed, alone, together, under the covers while we snuggle.

“Yes sir, everyone is determined to keep me occupied when you’re not around.”

“Sir, hm?” his voice lowers, coming out all raspy and gruff. It makes me want to kiss him, but I’m not sure if it’d bother him being in front of random people. Tyrant can be a bit on edge about sharing anything going on with him or us to anyone other than the fully patched members.

The tension in the room each night between us has been building to the point it has us both on edge. I thought for certain the first night I came here we’d have sex, but instead he let me sleep. Each day I’ve been waiting for him to demand I open for him, but it still hasn’t happened. In fact, I find myself being the one reaching for him in the middle of the night when I wake up, panicking. The dreams are getting less and less intense, but I still want to know he’s beside me. Even with my arms tightly wrapped around him and barely any clothes on for bed, he hasn’t pressured me for sex.

It’s driving me crazy. I want him so badly, but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing for me to ask him to fulfill my lingering fantasies of us together. He says he wants me to stay at the club, to be his wife, but he hasn’t touched me like he did when we were in Las Vegas. We’ve made out every single night, but he always stops before it goes too far.

Never did I dream of being the one wanting us naked and writhing in bed together.

“You eat?” he asks. He checks with me every time he has to leave and he can’t watch me eat a meal for himself.

“Yes, Twilah Jane and I had a bowl of cereal.”

He snorts, shaking his head. “That chick and her fucking Fruity Pebbles.”

I scrunch my nose. “Yeah, they’re pretty gross. I like the plain flakes with bananas and strawberries.”

“You need anything? I can stop tomorrow when I’m out.”

I shake my head. It’s another question he asks me every single day. “You know what? I need a job.”

“You have a job already,” he grumbles, grabbing for my hand and tugging me along to his room. Or I should say our room, as everyone else has been calling it, including Tyrant.

“I do?”

“Mm. You’re my wife.”

I refrain from rolling my eyes, a habit I’ve noticed myself picking up since coming here. “I need a real job. And a library.”

“A library?”

Nodding, I embellish, “I love to read and when I left here the local library had just shut down for good.”

“We can get you books. Tell me what you want and I’ll order some.”

I find myself biting down on the inside of my cheek. The last thing I want to do is tell him about the romance novels I read. I’m not ashamed of them or anything. I just don’t want to discuss something that is helping me heal from my past traumas. At least not yet. I’m not ready to delve into that bag of reality. “How about you tell me what your day was like instead?”

“Smooth, changing the subject.”

Laughing, I confess, “Maybe, or perhaps I want to hear about it because I’ve been here all day.”

“Did a ride by. There was a hitchhiker we spoke to. Guess the cops were all over the place in the morning. Dude says he doesn’t know what went down.”

“But you think they were there to serve the restraining order?”

“You have to go in front of a judge before they grant it. I think the notice was probably dropped off and for some reason the cops were called.”

I draw in a swift breath. If Josef was angry, he could’ve taken it out on anyone. “I hope no one was hurt.”

“It sounded to me like they tried starting problems with whoever showed up and then the cops were called in return. I don’t think it was internal.”

It brings little relief, but it is something, at least. “Am I still safe to help Havoc at the bar?”

“They’d be stupid to show up at the bar with Prez there, but that being said, I don’t want to put him in a tough spot. He’s already backing me up on helping get your daughter back, amongst other stuff, so I think it’s better for you to stay here until the order goes through a judge.”

“I’m sorry I’ve put you and everyone else in this position.” My throat begins to feel tight, my eyes growing wet. I attempt to choke back my emotions, but it’s impossible. The club and its members have been nothing but good to me, a stranger to them, yet you’d never know it by the way they act.