HIS: Book 1 in the HIS trilogy Page 7

  Winnie was in complete awe of the house.

  She was standing in what would be her room looking around the room taking in the blue and whites that filled the room when Jaxxon grunted to get her attention.

  Turning she saw him standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face.

  "Each room has a half bath nothing fancy but it works and in the hallway here is the main full bathroom..." he paused, "come with me I want to show you something."

  Following him out of the room Winnie walked behind him down the small hallway, past the den and around a small corner.

  Before she could see what he was showing her he turned around and covered her eyes with his hand.

  "Now this is just a really strange turn of events and I had nothing to do with it but... well just look for yourself."

  He pushed her into a room before removing his hand from her eyes.

  Winnie let a small cry of surprise pass her lips, she was speechless.

  "Yeah, I know what you mean." Jaxxon said behind her a chuckle followed his words.

  "I got to tell the girls the nailed this one on the head."

  The whole house had been repainted but the ladies who had overseen this project had somehow masked the smell of paint on the inside.

  Standing there in the kitchen though Winifred would not have cared if the fumes had been strong enough to kill a mule she would still be on cloud nine.

  The kitchen was yellow...

  Three hours later.

  "So now that your all settled in I am going to leave you here and let you get comfortable I got things to do at the club house that can't wait."

  Jaxxon had spent the last three hours helping Winnie get her things in her room and placed where they needed to be then he had taken her into town for groceries since the fridge and the cabinets had been empty.

  When Winifred asked how he stayed there with no food he told her he spent most of his time at the clubhouse in one of the rooms there and he ate out a lot.

  Winifred was pleased to see that the house while seeming secluded was still close to town.

  Sitting on the large stuffed recliner, feet under her and a throw over her Winnie looked up at Jaxxon and smiled.

  "Thank you Jaxxon-um Jax, I can't even form the words to really thank you."

  Jax smiled at her and winked, "Soon baby; soon you can repay me in ways we both will enjoy." with that he walked out the door and back to his truck.

  Within moment she was alone, well and truly alone for the first time in her life.

  She loved it.

  The morning sunlight burst through her window blinding her.

  Winifred groaned as she tried to figure out what had jolted her from her sleep.

  Looking around her room the day before came tumbling back.

  She no longer lived with her mother, she was living in Jaxxon's house, and someone was pounding on the front door.

  Throwing her feet over the side of the bed she slid her cold feet into her slippers before reaching for her small kimono robe.

  Pulling together the robe to cover her small boy shorts and cami top she made her way down the hall and through the den to the front door.

  Laying her head against the doors cool surface she groaned out.

  "Who is it?"

  "Slider." was her only answer.

  Sam was here.

  Looking at the clock on the wall in the den she saw it was already 7:00 a.m.

  Opening the door she stepped back to let him in.

  Sam wouldn't come in he just shook his head and held out a set of keys.

  Reaching for the keys with a scowl on her face.

  "What are these?" she asked.

  Slider stepped back out of her line of sight and she took in the sleek black older model Mustang in the driveway.

  "Prez said you needed wheels, so I picked that one out for you at the shop. Its was the only four wheeled automatic we owned but it runs like a dream."

  Having said that Sam stepped back and then walked across the porch and down the steps.

  It finally came together in Winnie's sleep addled mind.

  "Wait Sam I can't take this, I don't even have a license." she held the keys out to him.

  Sam merely shook his head, "Prez said to bring your wheels you got wheels take it up with him when he gets here." and with that he made his way across the lawn to the big blue Dodge waiting behind the Mustang with its engine still running.

  Hopping in he slapped his hand on the roof of the truck twice before the truck pulled out the drive leaving a trail of dust in its wake.

  "Well now I know how I am getting to school."

  Winnie closed the door and made her way back to the bed.

  She didn't see her phone on the bedside table light showing she had five missed calls and seven texts from Amanda.

  Nope all she saw was the back of her eyelids.

  Chapter 9

  Monday came too soon for Winnie.

  She was not prepared to go back to school and she was not ready to explain her new living situation to anyone.

  Winifred had wanted to drive the Mustang to school but Jaxxon had never returned after he left the day he dropped her of here.

  So she was still without a licenses thus leaving her still without a way to school.

  Giving up the fight she dialed Amanda.

  "Winifred where the snark have you been?"

  Amanda was definitely an original.

  "Manda I will explain everything in time but right now I need you to have your brother come and pick me up for school."

  "Okay we will be there in ten." Amanda promised.

  "Well the thing is I am not at my mom's place..."

  There was a loud screech before Amanda demanded to know where she was.

  "Long story remember but I am about a mile out of town on Dogwood road."

  Amanda didn't say anything for a minute and when she did she was eerily calm.

  "Winnie why are you at Jaxxon Monroe's house?"

  How in the snark did Amanda know where Jax lived?

  "Okay since you know where I am; come get me and I will explain on the way to school."

  Amanda was quite for a second then she said okay.

  Twenty minutes later Trey, Amanda's older brother, pulled up in his beat up 1970 model Dodge.

  Amanda was sitting in the middle of the cab with her arms crossed over her chest and a quirked brow.

  "Explain." Amanda demanded the minute Winnie opened the door.

  Hopping in pulling the door shut Winifred turned to Amanda and told her everything.

  When she was done Amanda reached over with tears in her eyes to hug Winnie.

  "You should have called us Win, we would have helped you."

  Winifred knew that; but she also knew Amanda's mom barely made enough money to feed her two kids let alone add another mouth in the equation.

  "Jax is not that bad Manda he is a great guy who just happens to have really scary friends."

  Winifred had hoped to lighten the mood but instead she saw Trey wince before Amanda blew up.

  "Not-that-bad, Winifred you have no idea what kind of people you're dealing with here." Amanda's shoulders slumped.

  Raising her hand she pinched the bridge of her noses and started taking slow breaths.

  Winifred didn't know what to make of Amanda's behavior or words.

  Looking over Amanda's hunched shoulders she questioned Trey, "What's this about?"

  Trey was a smart intelligent jock who dominated things on and off the field he was also the schools it guy.

  Whenever you needed to find out things or get things done you went to Trey.

  "Look Winifred I get that this guy has taken you from a pretty shitty situation and you feel like he deserves a second chance and all that shit but the guy and his club the bad news." His words seemed to drift off like he was leaving things unsaid like there was more but he didn't want to put it into words.

  Placing her hand on Amanda's shoulder Winnie aske
d,

  "How do you know where Jax lives, how do you know he's bad news, and what are you not telling me?"

  Amanda lifted her now red eyes to look deep into Winifred's before she spoke.

  "Because my daddy was a member of the Ronin Riders before he died... before Jax killed him."

  Winifred was blown away by Amanda's words.

  "Amanda you can't say stuff like that just because you don't like him... you can't make up stories the whole town knows your daddy ran off." Winnie was mad at Amanda for making up such a preposterous lie just because she wanted Winnie to run from him.

  Trey's pulled the truck over on the side of the road before he pulled a now crying Amanda to his chest.

  Looking at Winnie with a harsh glare Trey spoke,

  "That's what we were made to tell everyone, you don't double cross the Ronin Riders and get away with it." Pressing a soft kiss to his sisters temple Trey continued.

  "Two years ago dad got asked to write a code for the club, one that could be used to slowly siphon money from warring clubs accounts but dad got greedy he started taking some off the top for himself, not a lot but enough that when he left our mother he could set himself and his girlfriend up real nice in Mexico... but Jax's father found out and sent Jax and five other men to our door." Trey paused when Amanda squeezed his arm and hiccupped.

  Looking up into her brothers eyes she spoke her voice barely a whisper.

  "This part is mine to tell Trey." Looking deep in her eyes for a second he considered it before shaking his head.

  Amanda turned to Winnie her eyes a myriad of pain.

  "My father was a mean man, a genius with computers but mean nonetheless, that didn't mean I hated him or didn't love him... the night Jax showed up I was the only one home with my dad, he heard them pull in our drive and forced my into the coat closet by the front door." She closed her eyes like she was watching the events replay themselves.

  "They came in carrying guns and a bat, this one didn't even give my father time to speak he just hit him in the face and broke my dad's nose with that bat. They laughed and taunted him with threats of death but it was Jaxxon who killed him. Jax let them torture my father Winnie, he let them cut off three of my father's fingers, he let them beat my father to within an inch of his life before he put a bullet right between his eyes..." she paused, she was crying too hard to continue so Trey finished.

  "I was with mom at a friend of hers house, when we got back Jax was sitting on the couch while the guys with him were raiding the fridge, my dad's body was still in the middle of the floor blood pooling around him. Jax had Amanda sitting on the floor by his feet with a gun to her head, he said if we told what happened to our father he would come back and kill Manda.

  Then he explained to us just what he wanted us to say and do to keep anyone from finding out he had killed our dad." Shaking his head he continued, "We did just as he said and we pretend like we don't know them when we seem them around and we go a long way out of our way to keep our distance from them...you should too."

  Winifred was too worked up over the news of Jaxxon's behavior she called out of school and had Trey take her back to Jax's house.

  She thought about everything Amanda and Trey had told her; she thought about his seemingly two different personalities, she thought about his position in the club, but she focused on all the good he had done for her and she couldn't picture him being a killer.

  Deep in her thoughts she didn't hear the door open or see Jaxxon walk in.

  So when he laid his hand on her shoulder to wake her up she screamed out.

  Backing up and scooting away from him Winnie was unsure how to respond to Jax now.

  Jax was as confused by her behavior as she was by her situation.

  "What the hell was that?" he asked.

  Standing up from where she had been sitting on the couch Winnie looked at Jax with the fear due a murderer.

  "I have to ask you something... but I need your word you won't hurt me or my friends Manda first." She demanded.

  Jaxxon looked at her a dark scowl on his face before he sat sank down on the couch leaning back he shook his head for her to continue.

  "No, not until you say I have your word that you won't hurt me or Manda." Winnie reiterated.

  Sighing as his scowl grew darker Jaxxon said,

  "What the hell are you on about luv?" his words fell on deaf ears Winnie never responded.

  Cursing under his breath, Jaxxon finally agreed to her terms.

  Moving to sit beside him making sure to keep some distance between them she spoke,

  "Manda told me you killed her father... is that true?" her voice trembled and her body shook.

  The amount of adrenaline and fear pumping through her body was enough to send her into a panic attack.

  Jaxxon shook his head no, "Nope I don't know anyone named Amanda or her dead dad."

  He seemed relieved to be able to give that responds like he had escaped a very bad situation.

  Amanda Shook her head no, "Her name is Amanda Low her father was Riley low but she said yal called him Rowdy."

  At that name Jaxxon stiffened up and his eyes went down right frigid.

  "You want the truth luv or are you really asking me for a lie to make your little world right again?" his voice was cold his words harsh.

  "Truth." Winnie simply said.

  Running his hands from his thighs to his knees he sat in thought and just when Winnie assumed she had wasted her time asking and that his actions were far louder than words.

  "Yes, I shot him, but I had no choice."

  Winifred was shocked; how do you not have a choice?

  "I don't understand and I need you to make me understand right now Jax."

  "My father found out about his stealing from us; had we let him just skate by without punishing him we would have lost our seat of power here and the cartel would have taken over our territory... should that ever happen this town would just become another front for sex trade, drugs, and worse things." He paused there for a moment seeming to leave his body as his mind drifted back in time.

  "When I came to his house he threatened me and the club, a death sentence in my world because no one with knowledge of the club can tell club business and that's what he threatened me with... he threatened to out us all." Standing up he walked over to the small coffee table in the center of the room.

  He paused by the table looking down at it for a minute before he lifted one booted foot and brought it down on the tables' middle breaking the legs and the top of the table successfully destroying the piece of furniture.

  Not prepared for such a violent act Winifred jumped back and screamed; a short burst of sound ripping unwillingly from her throat.

  Turning to her he looked at her like she disgusted him with her fear.

  "I was going to let him go but right there in front of the guys in a show of dominance he called me a pussy for my leniency and then I did what had to be done but it still haunts me- every life I have taken haunts me..." he trailed off.

  Winnie wanted to comfort him she wanted to walk over to him and wrap her arms around his waist, hug him tight, and absorb some of that pain that was radiating off him; but she didn't dare move.

  Moving to leave Winnie watched as he walked to the door he had only just come in less than twenty minutes ago he was just about to leave when he stopped looking back at Winnie.

  The sad and broken side of himself that had shone its self when she was forcing him to remember the blood stains on his hands was nowhere to be seen.

  "I glad to see it takes so little to lose your loyalty, to have you turn and slap the hand that helps you."

  Winnie made to apologize but seeing her intent he held a hand up to silence her.

  "Save the bull shit luv, your words brought up some old memories that still pester me from time to time but do nothing to stop me from doing what my position as President of the Ronin Riders demands, you step up to me like that again though with only half the facts and I
will kick your ass out of here so fast you won't see your shit till it's on the grass in flames... am I understood?" he asked.

  Unable to speak Winnie nodded yes.