Utah (Knights Corruption MC: Laredo #4)

Chapter 33

33

“Kingsley,” one of the officers shouted. “Your bail was posted.”

It had been many years since anyone used my last name, and coincidentally, it was after being arrested that time as well. I’d just turned sixteen and got caught stealing a laptop. It wasn’t my finest moment, but I was living on the street and hungry.

The guys in the club knew my name, but everyone called me Utah. The nickname separated me from my previous life, which was exactly what I wanted.

Several hours passed while I sat in the holding cell. Two other guys were in here with me, both drunk. Alcohol would’ve been the perfect excuse as to why I’d attacked Will. But the truth was, while I was pissed off at learning he’d kissed Ria, it was as if I’d been outside myself when I rushed at him.

I’d been aggressive most of my life, angry for even longer, but the only other time I’d felt rage like that was when I saw Javier at the meet in Mexico, knowing he ordered Crash to be killed, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Even then, I didn’t think I had the same level of fury as I had earlier today.

The officer at the desk handed me back my wallet, keys, and watch. I signed a piece of paper, having no idea what it said, but right then, I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was get out of here and go see Ria. I’d work on my explanation on the way, hopefully coming up with something good enough for her to understand.

The night air never smelled so good. Maybe I was being dramatic, but there was nothing like being hauled away in handcuffs to make a man crave the sweet taste of freedom.

Knox stood at the edge of the sidewalk, shaking his head at me as I approached.

“Don’t start, man. I already know.”

“You scared the shit out of Ria.”

His words were like a knife to my heart. “I know. And I gotta live with that.”

“Do it again, and you and I are gonna have a problem.”

Knox loved his sister dearly, but so did I, and I had no intention of ever putting her in that position again. And I let him know as much.

“Got it.”

I followed him to Rascal’s truck, pointing at it as we approached.

“Did you wanna ride bitch on my bike?” he asked rhetorically.

“My truck’s at the bar.”

He nodded, and we set off back to Rocky’s. We didn’t make it a mile before he started in on me.

“You beat the guy because he kissed Ria?”

“As soon as I heard him say it, I just lost it.”

“Don’t you think you overreacted?” he asked.

I turned to face him, semi-shocked by his response. “If you found out Sanders kissed your woman, what would you do?” Knox straightened in his seat and tightened his hold on the steering wheel. “Wanna ask me again if I overreacted?”

“I get it,” he finally said, “but from what I hear, you didn’t just pop him once. You beat him unconscious. They had to take him away in an ambulance. There’s more behind your attack than him just kissing Ria.”

I sat with his accusation a moment. “I’ve been on edge ever since Crash was killed. I think hearing that guy kissed Ria just sent me over the edge.” I reached inside my cut for my pill bottle only to discover the cop never returned my medication. There were only two pills remaining, but I needed them. “Fuck!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I never got my pills back when they released me.”

“Maybe it’s for the best. You’ve been more on edge since you’ve been taking them. I’ve seen you popping more than you should.”

“You keeping tabs on me?”

“Just concerned, is all.”

“You ever been stabbed before?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. “Then you have no idea how much medication I need.” Several moments passed before I spoke again. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s goin’ on.” Because it was well past the time the pharmacy closed, I was shit out of luck on getting my refill until tomorrow. But I didn’t think I could go all night without anything. “Do you know if Nash is at the clubhouse?”

“There’s a ruckus goin’ on. Of course he’s there. Why?”

“I gotta see if he has anything to tide me over until tomorrow.”

Nash had messed up his back years ago and had been on Percocet ever since. I only hoped he had a few pills to spare.

I saw by the flare of my friend’s nostrils that he wanted to say something about me asking Nash for pills, but he refrained.

“Thanks for the ride and for bailing me out.” I hopped out of the truck, regretting the speed with which I did because a shot of pain ripped through my stomach. I didn’t have a single concern for the state of my body when I went after Will, and now, I was paying for it. Even more reason I needed to see Nash .

Knox and I pulled into the clubhouse lot at the same time. He returned Rascal’s truck, then took off on his bike. I didn’t expect him to stick around for the ruckus. He had a woman waiting on him.

Was Ria waiting for me to show up?

Was she angry with me? Scared of me?

The only way for me to find out was to go to her place and see if she’d talk to me about what happened.

“Look who it is,” Rez shouted when I walked inside. “I hope you didn’t drop the soap.”

I gave him the middle finger. “Fuck you.”

He laughed, as did Rascal, Dax, and Miles.

Darlene and Darcy, two of the club’s wannabes, sauntered up to me, flanking me on either side. “Hi, Utah,” Darlene cooed, trailing her finger down my arm. “Wanna play with us?”

Once upon a time, I’d taken them up on their offer, but the moment I started things with Ria, I never looked back.

“No, thanks.”

Darcy, the shorter of the two, pouted, but their attention on me didn’t last long. Rez walked past me, and they were off to follow him.

I smacked Dax on the arm. “Where’s Nash?”

Our VP took a swig of his beer and pointed toward the hallway. “Went to the can.”

I headed toward the bathroom, catching him as he opened the door.

“You good? I heard you went nuts on some guy.”

“I’m fine. Listen, can you spare any pills? The cops never gave me mine back, and I can’t get to the pharmacy until tomorrow. My stomach is killin’ me.”

“That’s what you get for fightin’, dumbass.” He briefly went silent, increasing the suspense on whether I’d find some sort of relief tonight. “How many do you need?”

“Tw—four should do it. ”

“You gotta be careful with that shit, Utah. You don’t wanna get addicted.”

“Save the speech. Just gimme the pills.”

“Jail has made you testy, my brother.”

I’d put up with his jests as long as he gave me what I needed. He reached into his cut and pulled out a bottle. After he popped the cap, he poured four pills into my hand.

“Are you stayin’?”

“I don’t think so.”

“It’s late. Grab a beer. Relax. Just don’t let your guard down if you don’t want one of these chicks ridin’ your dick.”

Nash’s laughter trailed behind him as he made his way to the bar. Darlene was already on him, and he didn’t look to be in a hurry to get away from her.

I snagged a beer from behind the bar and disappeared into one of the back rooms. Plopping down on the bed, I kicked off my shoes, twisted off the top, swallowed two pills, and lay down.

I contemplated calling Ria to let her know I was out but wanted to give her space in case she was still freaked out about what happened.

And to be honest, I needed more time as well because inevitably, I was gonna demand details about what happened between her and Will.

My blood pressure began to rise just thinking about that conversation.