Havoc

14 - Who the hell is this woman?

Wynter

“What made you want to be a biker?” I ask Phoenix while placing my wine glass on the table in front of me.

Phoenix asked me to join her for a drink while Havoc talked with Jett and the others. I was happy to accept because I didn’t want to be alone. Not that I was alone in a room full of people, but Cassie said she wouldn’t be long. She had to speak to someone. I didn’t want to intrude, even though she said I could accompany her. It didn’t feel right. That’s when Phoenix asked me to join her.

For someone of her age, Phoenix is very headstrong, not in a naïve way, but in a tremendously grown-up way. I’ve never met an eighteen-year-old so sure about themselves in my life. I sure as hell know I wasn’t like that at eighteen.

Phoenix sure as shi.t doesn’t let these men treat her like a damsel in distress. She’s not a patched-in member yet, but Phoenix told me it wouldn’t be much longer before Jett tells her it’s time.

I really hope my cousin gets her wish. If anybody deserves to be a fully patched member of Snakes Henchmen MC, it’s Phoenix. I haven’t known her for long, but I know that.

“I was born into this life, Wynter. It’s all I know. My dad is my hero,” Phoenix smiles. “Not to mention Wrench. I love Hawk and Stryker, don’t get me wrong, but Wrench and I have a different bond. I idolized him growing up. By age two, I knew I wanted to be just like Daddy and Wrench.” Phoenix laughs, and I laugh with her.

Having a father you love so much that he’d be your hero must be nice. I can only imagine how amazing Jack is for Phoenix to think of him that way.

I still wonder how Jack turned out so differently from John. I didn’t even know two siblings could be so different.

My sister and I weren’t different at all. Okay, we had the odd differences, but we believed the same things and had the same emotions. I guess we were just like our mother, and I thank God that neither of us turned out like John Anderson.

“When I was three, I begged my mother for a leather jacket. She surprised me with one, but I was gutted.”

“Why?” I smile.

“Because in my innocent mind, I thought Mom would have realized that I wanted a jacket with the club’s emblem stitched on the back. Not only that, but my road name and rank stitched on the front.

“Dad said, with a laugh, ‘You don’t get patches stitched on a jacket, Dana. Patches are for cuts.’ Naturally, I wasn’t impressed with what he said. I slammed my hands onto my hips and narrowed my eyes. I told him, ‘I am going to be the first female member of Snakes Henchmen MC. I won’t wear a stupid cut because that’s for sweaty men. I’m going to wear a leather jacket because I am one of a kind! Got it?’ My dad laughed so loudly and promised that he’d have the emblem stitched into the back of the jacket for me.”

“And did he?” I ask with a smile.

Phoenix nods. “He sure did. My parents still have that jacket hanging in their closet.”

“How did you get the name Phoenix?”

She looks at me and smirks. “I saw a picture of one in a book when I was five. I asked Wrench what kind of bird it was, and he told me it was a firebird. I was in awe as he spoke and said that though the Phoenix was a myth, it was said to be incredibly strong, a one-of-a-kind bird, just as I was one of a kind.

“That was the day I swore Phoenix would be my road name, though no one called me that until I was thirteen and threatened to set fire to the clubhouse if no one gave me the respect I demanded.” She laughs.

“I envy you,” I whisper wistfully. I hadn’t meant to, but it just came out.

“Why?” Phoenix asks around a swig of her bottled beer.

I chuckle and shake my head. The girl is eighteen and shouldn’t be drinking alcohol, but she doesn’t seem to care what anyone says. She also drinks beer like a man would. By that, I mean she chugs the stuff.

“Because you have an amazing family. You also have a wonderful, loving father who would do anything for you and your siblings.”

“And you got landed with the rotten apple?”

I nod while trying not to laugh.

Phoenix is so outspoken and has no filter at all, but I don’t mind one bit.

“I get that life can’t have been easy with that man, Wynter. What he did to your mom when she was a child doesn’t bear thinking about. But didn’t something good come out of it all?”

I narrow my eyes and shake my head.

Phoenix rolls her eyes and laughs. “You, you coc.khead!” She reaches over and slaps my arm. I have to bite my tongue so as not to yell how that slap hurt. God, she’s got strong hands. “But seriously, you’re a good person, Wynter.”

“If she likes you, you must be.”

I look up at the man now standing beside our table. He’s a Prospect. I remember Havoc pointing all four of them out when we arrived. I can’t recall his name, though I know my husband isn’t too keen on the man.

“Fuc.k off, Tex.” Phoenix snarls at him.

Tex raises an eyebrow and smirks. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”

“None of your damn business!” Phoenix snaps venomously.

Tex looks at me and smirks again. “Ignore her; she’s always this moody. Tell me, what’s a woman like you,” He shamelessly looks me up and down. “Doing with a man like Havoc?”

“Are you for real?” I narrow my eyes and shake my head.

Tex can’t be more than nineteen, but I can see just what a coc.ky bastard he is. That might turn most women on, but it won’t work on me. Not when it comes to this kid, at least.

I’m about to say something, but I startle when Phoenix jumps out of her seat and punches Tex so hard in the mouth that he falls to the floor. I’m shocked, and so is Tex by the way he’s looking at Phoenix.

Casually, she crouches down in front of him, resting her arms on her thighs and entwining her fingers. The power this eighteen-year-old woman emits is something I’ve never known before.

Phoenix moves her head to the side, a smirk on her face as she stares Tex down. The room is now full of men, all staring at Phoenix, and not one of them attempting to stop her from what she’s doing.

My eyes lock with Havoc’s, his narrow, and I swallow hard. I want to go and tell him what the hell just happened. I also want to ask who fetched them all out of their meeting. Maybe they’d finished and just walked in on this. However, I can’t seem to move, and my eyes have strayed back to my cousin.

“Now, tell me, why would you say such a thing to my cousin?”

“I didn’t say nothin’ bad. Jesus, you didn’t have to hit me!” Tex wipes the blood from his lip, and I’m here wondering how the hell Phoenix didn’t break her hand or his jaw. She hit him so hard, his damn head span!

“The next time you so much as look at Wynter for more than three seconds, I’ll do more than hit you. Don’t push me, Tex. You should know better than that.”

Who the hell is this woman?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Phoenix is fantastic, but she’s crazy. I’ve never met anyone like her before, and I have to admit that she scares me a little.

“Apologize to my cousin.” Tex looks at me as Phoenix gets to her feet. He doesn’t say anything right away, and Phoenix stamps her boot into his crown jewels. Tex howls in pain, and Phoenix stares down at him. “Now, Tex.”

“I’m sorry!” He yells like a child. Phoenix grinds her boot into him once more before letting him go.

Tex rolls on the floor for a moment.

God, that must have hurt!

I look up at the laughter coming from people in the room. I’m stumped that they let this happen. Okay, it’s great that Phoenix is so strong and that she’s not scared of anyone or anything.

But surely these men don’t think what she just did was right?

Yes, Tex was a little arrogant, but I wouldn’t have said he needed punching out and then humiliating.

“One thing you should know about me, Wynter,” I look at Phoenix. “Is that I have no tolerance for male stupidity.” She leans over and kisses my cheek before walking away.

Havoc winks at me, then walks away, following the men back into the room he just existed. Great, now I’m all alone in a room full of people I barely know.

What the hell is keeping Cassie?