Page 6 of Stonewall

“You make any enemies lately, Flex,” Teller questioned.

“The only thing I can think of is I fucked one of the old ladies belonging to the Riot Cage MC a few nights ago that I met at a bar downtown,” Flex answered, not at all bothered that he admitted to fucking another woman in front of his wife. Not that I cared, but still, what a loser.

“Yeah, that will do it, probably some angry husband. I will ask around and see what I can find out to make sure. You gonna be okay, man?” Goose asked Flex, helping him to his feet.

“I just need to sit and have a drink before I try and ride out.”

The men made their way back inside, with me following behind, scowling at their backs. “Get me a beer, Brooke and hurry it up,” Flex snapped at me as he sat down.

“Make that three beers,” Teller demanded, slapping his hand on the table.

Without saying a word, I went and grabbed three mugs from the bar and returned to the table, sitting the beer down in front of them. I went to walk away, and Flex grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “I was going to give you a good fuck while I was here, but since you smarted off, you can forget it,” Flex smirked at me.

I was about to smart off again that his tiny dick couldn’t give a good fuck no matter how small the hole, but I remembered my promise to Lenny. I didn't know why I felt I had to keep that promise, but I wanted to. So, instead, I said, “Whatever, Flex, I need to get to work.” I pulled my arm from his grip and went to the back.

I know smarting off makes Flex mad, and he will hit me, but I learned early on when I was given to Flex that he liked when I cowered, and he got turned on by my fear, so I quit giving him fear, taking the beating over the forced sex. It sounds extreme, but I found Flex would stay away for weeks at a time after I started standing up to him. He was all about the sex, and if he couldn’t get it in the way that got him going, he stayed away and found other women.

Not that he didn’t still force sex on me, he did, but it was usually only once a month and lasted barely fifteen minutes before he would pull his pants up and throw down some money and walk out the door. Gael barely knew who Flex was, and he was better off.

I still can’t believe Lenny knocked Flex out for hitting me. I have never had anyone stand up for me the way he did. And the rage that twisted his face and coiled his body tight was something I had never seen before and should have scared me but didn’t; I knew that rage wasn’t for me. Lenny had experienced domestic abuse firsthand; that was obvious. I was so aware of him at that moment that I wanted to pull him to me and soothe his anger in any way he needed.

But there was no time he needed to leave before he was caught. I know he is not here on some random job; I still don’t understand why he is here, but I hope I will see him again. But, it’s a long stretch that he will return here. And I’m surprised how much that bothers me.

I was also worried about Tildie more than ever. Flex wanting to know if I heard from her is concerning, I wish there were a way to find out what is going on, but the club men stay tight-lipped about club business. I will call Carol to see if she has heard anything about the club.

I went into the bathroom and covered the latest marks on my face before returning to the floor, thankful to see Flex was gone. Even though his cronies remained signaling to me. I gave a heavy sigh, went to see what they wanted, and reminded myself I was doing this for Gael and Tildie so we could get the money to leave this behind for good and end our years of abuse.

CHAPTER FIVE

I WATCHED ASFlex straddled his bike and preparedto ride out. My fingers itched on the handle of my pistol as I struggled not to kill him. The image of Brooke’s bruised face keeps flashing in my mind, and I want to make Flex pay.

Flex pulled into traffic, and I followed a few cars back. He hopped on the interstate heading out of the city. Traffic started to slow down.Fuck!There is a car accident blocking the highway. A few minutes later and I was completely stopped. I watched as Flex swung onto the side of the road and rode down to the next exit getting off the interstate.

So much for following him; this is why I hated driving my Jeep and preferred my bike, the freedom it gave me. Lord only knows how long I’m going to be stuck here. I grabbed my phone calling Shadow, who answered on the second ring. “What’s up, Stonewall?”

“Flex showed up at that bar Brooke works at this morning, slapping Brooke around and asking her if she heard from Tildie,” I informed him, waiting on the question I knew was coming.

“Is Flex still alive?” Shadow asked; he was the only person that truly knew me and understood why I was who I was and never judged me. Shadow has been my best friend since we were kids, with our old men being Devil’s House members.

“Yeah, I only knocked him out, not that I wasn’t tempted and had to fight myself not to kill him. But Brooke talked to me, bringing me back and reminding me the men inside would kill me if I didn’t get out of there.”

“Thank fuck she did, and I wish I knew how she did it because once you go in your head, it takes a while to bring you out.”

“I was surprised too; there is something about Brooke. I’m not sure what it is; it’s not something I’m familiar with to be able to understand it,” I confided, knowing anything I told Shadow would be kept between us.

“I can’t help you out, having never met her, but I have a feeling you will figure it out; I’m just glad she was there to stop you from being killed. And it shows she has no loyalty to her worthless husband having more care for you than if he was okay.”

“No, she has no love for that asshole.” I needed to change the subject. It wasn’t a habit of mine to talk about chicks. “Anyway, I waited for Flex to leave so I could follow him. Flex left the city, getting on the interstate, but only a few miles down the interstate, traffic stopped for an accident; on his bike, he rode the side and got off. So I lost him while sitting here in the backup.”

“Nothing you could do about that; I’m sure Cross is somewhere close. I can’t understand how we can’t catch someone as stupid as Cross. His luck has to run out sometime,” Shadow grumbled. “Are you still heading back tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I have to get back to the shop,” I answered. I wanted to stay longer; I would worry about Brooke. Maybe I could get caught up and head back this weekend. Yeah, that’s what I would do.

“Okay, brother, nothing has changed on this end, and I will talk to you when you get back. Be careful,” Shadow cautioned before hanging up.

Finally, the traffic started crawling along enough to get me to the exit, which I took and made my way back to the bar. I wanted to see Brooke, and when I pulled in, I noticed the other two men had left, who I figured reported back to Flex about Brooke. I kept my baseball cap on to try and hide some of my face as I walked in, taking a seat in the back. There were only a few other customers besides me, so it wasn’t long before Brooke appeared in front of me.

Her eyes stared at me curiously for a minute. “I’m surprised to see you,” she said quietly, her hand going to her neck and rubbing there like she was nervous or worried.