Knight: Heart by L. Ann Marie
Chapter Two
Aylen
Riding rounds with Walker is nice. We were teamed together at Alpha when we were needed a few times and he had no problem taking second for me, which I found weird and endearing. Badass men who are not Princes, are older than me and know their shit, don’t normally take orders from me so easily. He’s never had a problem with it. It’s funny because when we’re not working, he calls the shots with a confidence I have come to crave. I make decisions all day long, when I’m off, I want to be off. I don’t care what restaurant, bike, Club, whatever. The possibility of getting pulled away at any minute means I take my downtime seriously. He’s good about doing shit I like and makes sure our time together is about us. I thank the ancestors for him every night. They did a good fuckin’ job and I’m glad I wasn’t paired with someone like Web or Harky.
“Here, Pres?” Walker focuses me on here and now.
“Looks like the place.” We’re picking up lunch for the PD.
We stop and he puts his hand out before he’s off his bike, I take it smiling, it’s a good thing I have my helmet on.
“Thanks.” Schooling my face, I take the helmet off and shake my hair out.
He pulls and I bend, getting a kiss. “We’re working for lunch. I’ll take my time when I can get it.”
My smile has his soulful eyes looking deeper. “I’m working to get more of that ‘our’ time. It’s been a busy three months but it’s easing up.”
He nods, walking me in with Seaton and his team behind us. “It wasn’t a complaint, just an excuse for a kiss.”
I walk into the barbecue place laughing so everyone turns to see what’s going on. Two blond women come running. It wasn’t that funny.
The one with barely-there clothes holds her stomach like it’s not a practiced move to get her breasts almost falling out of the low-cut top that’s painted on her. “I’m learning all the important dates in history, want to be one?”
I start laughing again. Walker isn’t impressed. “What the fuck?”
The other blond pulls the flasher wannabe’s arm spinning her then steps closer to Walker putting her hand on his chest. “Here I am, baby. What are your other two wishes?”
Walker looks at me but that has me laughing harder. That’s a good fuckin’ line.
“You want me to get rid of them, VP.” Seaton steps over looking like he’s ready to laugh.
“Get the hell away from me.” Walker blows by them taking my hand, so I’m following – still laughing.
“Those were some good lines. Seaton, try them out. I bet the hangers would love the genie one.”
He laughs behind me as Walker gives me a damn one arched brow look. I want to do it right back but know both brows go up so I put on a serious look.
“Can I help you?”
We both turn to the guy wiping his hands on what I think is called a tea towel.
“The Zion Rising order,” Walker says in a growl.
The man nods. “The Prospect is loading it in the back. He said you’d be by to pay.”
I pull my card out of the zip pocket of my coat and hand it over. “Thanks for doing this with just a couple hours’ notice. I hope we didn’t screw with your day.” The guy that took the order this morning didn’t know how to run the register and the owner wasn’t in yet.
He smiles. “Not at all. The Brothers don’t leave much for the waste bins here. If you’re feeding them, they aren’t coming in.”
“Glad you’re easy with that,” Walker says in his normal voice.
My card gets swiped and I take it back. After thanks and small talk about the order for trainees in testing next week, I have to ask. “Is that a tea towel?”
The guy smiles big. “It is. My grandmother taught me to cook and the tea towel was a must.”
I nod. “In New England we use them for clam boils to hold ingredients together then as a strainer for kid’s plates.”
His head bobs knowing what I mean. “We use it as a strainer too. It’s a versatile towel and doesn’t leave lint on anything. They’re great for windows too.”
I laugh nodding. “Thanks for the tip and food, Brother.” Throwing chin, I turn and see a different woman behind the team with no shirt on.
“Hey! Get the fuck out of my place like that!” My new happy friend isn’t so happy.
The woman doesn’t even flinch. “I’m new here, can I get directions to your house?” Her hand slides up her stomach toward a breast. I shake my head as the hand is grabbed before she makes it. Shirtless, she’s walked out getting yelled at the whole way.
I look at Walker. “It was a shitty line.”
He busts out laughing with the team and some customers. “Keep them away from me, Aylen. Shooting them is on the table.”
“Okay, we were taught to kill for rape but how the fuck do you know what to do when the woman is the rapist?” The team behind us laugh as we go through the door throwing chin at our new friend. “Is it rape if the guy gets it up and participates?” Walker shrugs, scanning the lot. Something about all this is familiar but not. I need time, which I don’t have, to think about it.
Walker is not answering, he’s pissed. Since he’s not talking, I shrug and throw my leg over watching him breathe for calm with his hands on his knees right beside me. He looks up with happy soulful eyes and a smile. “Love you, Juana. They piss me off. We can ask Actin about women raping at lunch. If this keeps up, we’ll need the fuckin’ law on stalking at the very least. So far, it’s been annoying but it’s starting to border on harassment. You never have to worry about it going further.”
“You’re good for my spiritual and mental wellbeing.”
He kisses my lips and puts my helmet on me. “I was told we have a long story. That wouldn’t be true if I wasn’t all in for you. These women turn my stomach trying to take the guarantee I have away.” And there it is, my sexy man has a determination not to get me, but to keep me.
No wonder the ol’ ladies love their men back so fiercely. Everything in me melts. If we didn’t have a meet, I’d pull him away and show him how much those words mean to me. “Very good for me, VP. Let’s get to PD before the Prospects get there.” I throw energy out to him because I am such a sap.
“Roger, Pres.” His smile says he feels it.
I’m glad my sappiness isn’t a turn off. Riding to the PD, I think about the women. Women are always throwing themselves at him but they’re getting bolder. This is more like an attack.
“Actin is excited for this meet. He met with the new Sheriff and found out he’s a Mason that went through Champion and was recommended to Cort by Dan. Dan is the grand wizard or something.”
I laugh. “Grand Master. I met the lawyer and new Sheriff.”
“When?”
“When I came back from the east coast meets.” We weren’t talking.
He slows down and my ring heats up. “Pull over for a minute.” I should have done this sooner.
We pull to the back of an insurance building lot. I hit my mic off and walk away from the team. “We’ll be a minute or whatever.”
When Walker joins me under the tree, he turns me. “My mic and cam are off.”
I nod. “Mine too. When I got back from the east coast, I already had the plan set up for here. Darren helped me by marking potential issues with the draft I had and told me to have solutions ready. I took procedures I liked from other Clubs and added them in so we’d have those solutions ready. Cort liked the plan and was surprised I had it finished with procedures in place that didn’t fuck with the Bible or BSC. He set up the meet with the Sheriff and lawyer for here. I took it and approved the two. They both live just outside our towns.”
He nods. “Thanks for explaining. I missed shit being an ass and know that’s on me. I’ll get all I missed in time. I don’t mind waiting for it and use the reminder as a lesson.”
Walking back to the bikes I’m a little stunned and jump right into autopilot. What the fuck do I say to that? I throw chin not having an answer and swing my leg over my bike. He was an ass because I wouldn’t let him claim me before we even slept together. I had just gotten to the point where I was seeing him as mine. Walks, riding, meal dates, hiking in Colorado, talking in the Rising Clubs at every party thrown, it all showed me he was the one. That is until I wouldn’t let him claim me. I had a hybrid Club to put together and no time or space in my head for personal shit. Everyone needed healing so my time for me was limited. That means my time for focusing on Walker and me was just about nil and I knew it would get busier before it would slow down. He was a dick and didn’t take no well.
I smile turning into the PD. I fixed it being pissed myself and showing in his room. I slept in his bed for four nights without him saying a word to me. That night he held me close and slept mumbling something I didn’t get. The fifth he was waiting for me and got into bed when I got there. I was exhausted just getting back from healing and fell into bed then jumped. He changed me into his t-shirt and held me. I knew he was mine with no doubt.
“You ready?”
Shaking my head, I pull my helmet off. “Yeah.”
“Vision?”
Shit. “No, but something is nagging me about the women. The lines or something. Is there a movie with lines like that?”
He smiles, taking my hand. “I don’t know. I’m not much for movies.” His free time is long rides anywhere to do anything.
“Yeah, me either,” I say thinking about the crew house and the Brothers having movie marathons. It wasn’t my thing. I was out more than in and didn’t sit for much.
My first thought of the PD is it looks clean and new with old world charm. It’s an old high school that was redesigned years ago to house Police.
“It looks good.” Walker thinks like me. I love that.
“It does.” I gave Actin free rein on doing whatever he wanted here.
Walking in, we’re greeted by an officer behind a counter. “Pres, VP, Brothers.”
I smile and throw chin looking around. There’s an interactive menu board to the side and holograms showing, purposely inches away, in front of the white boards on the walls. It’s a cool as shit 3D look. “Are all the boards interactive?”
“They are. The chief is coming down but I can answer your questions about the community entrance.” That’s the PD way of saying lobby, I guess.
“Thanks.” I watch Walker swipe through a menu on one board.
“You can talk or just swipe. Every choice here is on the website too,” our PD Brother says.
“You’re linked into the Sheriff?” Walker asks, making me smile.
“Police and the Sheriff work closely together here. If it’s a concern or there are concerns with our force, the Sheriff should know. It works the same for us. The new Sheriff has the PD to keep them honest.”
We all turn when the door closes. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted in here. The new working relationship between PD and the Sheriff goes further on our side. A Sheriff not following the law is dangerous and has almost no oversight. Here we have a chain of command that deals directly with law enforcement issues. It doesn’t matter what agency.”
I nod at Actin. “You’re good at that. It started at Champion in New Mexico and has spread to all Rising Club areas.”
Actin nods. “The BSC net is growing so the law enforcement oversight is too. Cort is making sure the BSC is covering everything. It’s a good way to keep civilians safe from fraud, kickbacks, brutal and/or lazy officers.”
He comes from a place like that but I’m not pointing it out. My dad has Masons working to clean up the departments up there but it’s New England and not so easy.
“I realized the area impacted by BSC Clubs right away but didn’t know BSC was pushing law enforcement in there.” Walker is never embarrassed by what he doesn’t know.
“Zion is the first Club with an all-Brother force. The food is here. We can talk over lunch.” Actin holds the door open for us.
I walk through, happy the first officer I see is female. I know there are more but seeing her shows me Actin really has no gender bias. She’s excited to meet us and throws chin.
Actin stops just inside and introduces us. “Lt Detective Waterman, this is Aylen Walker-Knight and Brent Walker.”
“Pres, VP. I was at Church but had to pick my kids up right after.” Her husband died in the line. Shit.
“Little Brothers have a breakfast and activity meet while we have Church.” I throw out.
She’s embarrassed. “The chief told me but I didn’t have time to get them in before Church. The school enrollment is crazy here, doctor for new immunization cards, proof of residency, finding babysitters and moving has kept me busy.”
What? I look at Walker. “That needs to be fixed.”
He nods but I know he’s not fixing it today. “The superintendent starts next month.”
“I’ll get Ajhil on someone to help with the paperwork issues. No, we’ll go to the school department when we leave. For now, do you have a mentor for three boys that lost a dad and need some time?”
He nods. “A therapist that’s been showing but isn’t paired.”
I look at Waterman. “Get the kids into Little Brothers. The therapist will give time without it looking like he is. It’s another set of eyes on the kids and some time for you to breathe.”
She throws chin feeling that, so I give her a minute and go on. “The Little Brothers Club has supervision put on by the older kids. Everything is on feeds and an adult is always there along with regular Security. Use it when you need it.”
“I will, Pres, thank you. My husband was a new Associate in Mass. I’m just learning.”
I nod but Walker stops typing on his phone and answers. “Merrill will have your kids’ cards brought here. Your Zion ID is proof of residency. Ajhil is taking a copy to the school and will have the kids enrolled today.” He looks at me. “Ajhil will deal with the school and make sure there are no other issues.”
“Good job. So, you’ll have the kids enrolled and a place for them to play safely while you’re working. The school bus will bring them to the kids’ club when you’re working. I’m sorry we missed that. You can take some pride in being the one to fix it.”
She smiles and I feel her relief. “You and VP did but thank you. It’s a load off my mind and the kids will be happy at the kids’ club. The pool had them begging me.”
“Now that we’ve changed school policy in five minutes, let’s eat.” Actin makes me smile.
As we follow them to the back I ask Walker, “Do we need a doctor to do the immunization shit?”
“No, Merrill said EMTs or other medical personnel can do it. He’s got Doc on it today but will have someone in place to help with school paperwork until the policy changes.”
“You’re good at that. Thanks.”
“We have other shit to do and no time for you to start a fight at the school department.” My man is annoying sometimes.
“I would win.”
Everyone close laughs. I try to do the one eyebrow look and he smiles at me so I know it didn’t work. Whatever.