“Thanks for the heads-up.”
Russ watched Richard leave, and on his way out, several women stopped to admire the large man. Richard stood out in a crowd, and even though he was a large, scary man, women still flocked to him.
Pulling out his cell phone, Russ put a call through to Franny.
“This is your third call of the day, Russ. Anna’s fine, and I’m making sure she’s not overdoing it. If she finds out you’re calling every couple of hours, she’s going to get angry. Let her breathe.”
“I’m sorry. I worry about her. Call me if anything changes.”
“You will be the first man I call.” The line disconnected. Logging out of his emails, Russ got to his feet, and got his PA, Daniel, to cancel the remainder of his meetings. He had his cell phone, which allowed him to conduct business from wherever he was in the world.
Within minutes he was on the road, heading toward the exclusive club for their MC. While he was driving, he went back over the night over a couple of months ago when he’d heard Anna’s scream. She had changed his life forever, and he’d not even known it. When he’d gone to her hospital room, he’d needed to know she was okay. Fuck, if he’d left it another night, she would have been dead. He hated the fuckers who took her, but he hated every single bastard who hurt women.
Growing up in foster care, he’d seen a shitload of evil in other people. One of the homes he’d been to had a father who liked to use his fists on his wife and the kids. Russ couldn’t stand to hear a woman crying, and when he had heard the sounds of the sweet foster mother who took him in, he’d not been able to keep his fists to himself.
One night, Russ had made sure he was awake when the pleas had started. His foster mother had been so kind. The kindest woman he’d ever known until Anna. She loved to bake, and cook, and sing as Anna did. The only darkness inside her was that of her husband. He scared her into staying with him. Looking back, Russ had no doubt that someone would have saved her. She’d been too kind, too beautiful to ignore. That Friday night had changed everything. He had walked downstairs, making sure not to make a noise.
His foster father had his belt in hand, and was beating her, slapping, and hurting the woman who was just trying to protect herself.
Russ had seen red. He’d grabbed the nearest lamp and thrown it at the man, distracting him. When his foster father turned on him, she had tried to protect him, jumping in front of him, and telling her husband to back off.
The next part still broke Russ to remember.
His foster father had back handed her so hard that she was pushed across the room. The only problem was, the attack made her impact with a corner of the glass table. He’d watched his foster mother smash her head on the corner and fall to the floor dead. The single blow to the head had killed her. Russ had gone to her, checked her pulse, and discovered she was dead. He’d exploded in a fit of rage, grabbing a poker, and unleashing hell upon the man who had just killed the one woman who had protected him.
Pulling out of his memories, Russ found himself at the parking lot of the club. He’d not gone to jail for killing his foster father. It had been proven he’d attacked in self-defense. It also helped that their children testified against their father, and that had saved him a long jail term.
He was given a warning, and was placed in a home for troubled kids. Russ had taken many lives since that night, but he had never raised his hand against a woman, and he never would.
Locking up his car, he made his way toward the elevator. He hadn’t thought about his foster mother in a long time. It sucked, the memory of that night, but had cemented his path.
The door opened to the club opened, and he stepped inside.
Tina was walking across the club when he arrived. She turned toward him, and the smile on her face grew as she spotted him.
“Hey, baby. It has been too long since you were here.” She walked up toward him and ran her hands up his chest.
He grabbed her wrists, and shook his head. “No. I’m not interested in what you have to offer me.”
Tina’s smile disappeared. “Is this because of that fatty you brought here?”
“Don’t think of disrespecting my woman, Tina. Anna belongs to me. She’s my old lady.”
The club members had never taken an old lady, but Russ had decided he was going to change that now.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe you’d pick her over me.”
“Your pussy belongs to the club. Anna belongs to me. You’ve got nine other brothers to satisfy, not me.”
“I don’t want anyone else.”
“Then I suggest you find a job that pays well. You don’t fuck the brothers, you don’t get to be in the club, and you don’t get paid for the pleasure.”