Breaking Heart

Chapter Two

A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed my first chapter! I hope you all continue to enjoy my story!

The girl was young. Sixteen, maybe seventeen. She looked innocent enough, and probably was, but that didn't matter to Kane. All that mattered was that she had something, and he wanted it.

Kane watched her through the window of the cafe, as he ate his way through a packet of pine nuts, counting each individual one as he went. He was up to eighty-four. Eighty-five. Eighty-six. There was movement to his left, but he ignored it. Eighty-seven. Someone cleared their throat. Eighty-eight.

"Excuse me, sir?"

A muscle in Kane's eye twitched. Eighty-nine. Ninety.

"Sir? Kane Bird?"

Kane glared at the man. "Ninety," he said.

"Sorry?"

"Remember that number. If you forget it, I'll kill you." There was no humour in Kane's voice, and the man's uncertain smile soon faded when he realised this.

"I... yes, sir."

"What do you want?"

The man straightened his back importantly. "I'm your new carer. Joseph," he added, holding his hand out.

Kane stared at the palm in disgust. "My last assistant's name was Murphy. Do you know what happened to Murphy?"

Joseph baulked at being referred to as an assistant, and retracted his hand. "No, I don't."

"Sir"

"No, I don't, sir," Joseph corrected. He shifted uncomfortably, as though the conversation wasn't going the way he'd expected.

"Would you like to know?"

Joseph opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Maybe it was the look in Kane's eyes, or the way the man just didn't seem to care about... well anything, but Joseph shook his head, deciding he'd rather not know what happened to Murphy. "No, sir."

"Good answer. Now... ninety." Kane picked a pine nut out of the packet. "The girl in there, with the blonde hair. You see her?"

Joseph peered into the cafe. "Yes, sir."

"Unless she leaves, don't bother me again."

Kane continued counting his pine nuts, while a slightly unsure Joseph sat cautiously next to him, trying to watch the girl and him at the same time. He didn't know why Kane was watching the girl, but he suddenly felt worried for her.

The town they were in was a funny one, Joseph thought. Charming was, as the name suggested, a rather charming town, but it also boasted something more, something darker underneath all that perfection. The biker club, Sons of Anarchy, was not to be trifled with, he discovered, after asking several people. Each person he questioned about the club replied with either awe, fear, or a mixture of both. Even the chief of police harboured evident respect for them. And here they were, sitting on a bench, watching a girl while Kane ate pine nuts like they were lollies.

In the cafe, the girl was standing from her table. She smiled at the waitress, said something, then went to leave. "Sir," Joseph said. "Sir, she's leaving."

Kane didn't answer straight away. He continued eating his pine nuts, one at a time. Finally he said, "One hundred and fifteen. Remember it."

Joseph did his best to burn the number into his memory. "What do we do, sir?"

There was a look on Kane's face that said he should already know what to do. "Follow her," Kane hissed.

Tripping over his feet, Joseph rushed to his car. He took off moments after the girl, trailing behind her, trying to turn when she did without looking suspicious, memorizing the number plate in case he lost her, while chanting the number one hundred and fifteen to himself. He didn't care to think what would happen to him if he did forget that number.

Joseph never dreamed that volunteering to be Kane's carer would be as nerve-wracking as it was, and he'd only been there for twenty minutes. He knew Kane was a difficult person, but following people? Who was the girl, anyway?

He followed the girl through the streets, out of the town and into the residential area. She pulled in the driveway of a battered old house, killed the engine, and stepped out of the car, pulling a few bags of shopping with her. Joseph stopped just down the street.

What did he do now? Did he call Kane? Go back and tell him where she was? Or did he wait and watch for anything suspicious? Deciding to wait, he pulled out a notepad and pen, and started scribbling notes for his report. Murphy, the previous carer, had written outstanding reports about Kane. What fantasy world had the man been living in?

Joseph's phone rang, causing him to jump. He scrambled to answer it. "Hello?"

It was Kane. "Where are you?"

Joseph gave him the address, and was promptly hung up on. Grumbling to himself, he settled back in his seat and waited. It wasn't long before a sleek black sedan came roaring to a halt across from him, and Kane stepped out, accompanied by two men. Joseph hopped out of his car, too, and approached Kane.

"What's going on, here?" he asked firmly. "Who are they?"

One of the men laughed as he pushed past Joseph, storming up to the house. He banged on the door, which opened a moment later to the blonde haired girl. Before Joseph could begin to comprehend what was going on, the man clapped a hand over the girl's mouth, shoving her inside the house.

Kane rubbed his hands. "Shall we?"

They marched into the house, a bewildered Joseph bringing up the rear. He felt in his pockets for his phone, only to remember it was still in his car. Too late now.

The girl was thrown on the living room floor, tears streaming from her wide eyes. "Who are you people?" she asked. "What do you want?"

Kane didn't answer her; he was busy inspecting the interior of the house. He scanned through photos mounted on the walls, checked the pantry and cupboards in the kitchen. Finally, he disappeared upstairs to survey the bedrooms, before coming back down.

"Are you affiliated with the Sons of Anarchy?" he asked.

The girl's eyes flashed with fear. "Ye...yes."

"You're one of their whores." It wasn't a question. "You don't have a job." Another statement. "And, by the looks of it, no family. I wonder, who will miss you when you're gone?"

"What... what are you talking about?" The girl tried to crawl away, but the man next to her placed a boot on her ankle. "Please, please I'll do anything."

Joseph watched the commotion with a dawning realisation of what was going to happen. "Kane," he firmly said. "Kane, this is far enough." He'd humoured the man for long enough, but that was when no one was being hurt.

Kane just looked at him. "You don't tell me what to do. I tell you."

There was no time for Joseph to speak, no possible way he could act as Kane drew a silenced pistol from his jacket, pointed it at the girl, and squeezed the trigger. He watched in horror as the girl fell wide-eyed with a spray of blood, her head hitting the ground with a thump. Blood pumped out of the hold in her neck as she convulsed on the ground, making horrible squelching sounds. She coughed, spit and blood flying from her mouth. Then she fell still.

Joseph stumbled back, everything he'd eaten in the past day rising into his throat. He gagged once, before vomiting on the floor. Behind him, someone tutted, while the man who was still standing on the girl's ankle laughed. Who were these people? What had he gotten himself into?

Kane crouched next to him, his face full of glee. "I think it's time I told you what happened to Murphy."

Gabby watched, impatiently, as Bobby, Tig, Filip and Jax wandered through the caryard, inspecting each and every vehicle as though it was the main factor in a crime scene. Considering they were here to help her buy a car, she didn't know why they were still looking. She was quite comfortably leaning against the hood of her chosen car.

It was green, compact, and sported two doors, which was about the extent of Gabby's knowledge of anything with wheels. Either way, she liked the look of it, Filip insisted it was a girl's car, and Tig swore he'd never steal (not that he stole cars in the first place, of course), so everyone was happy.

"What are you lot doing? Hurry up," Gabby moaned.

Bobby glanced up at her. "This is how we feel every time we go shopping with a woman."

"Amen."

Gabby scowled.

"Okay, we're coming," Tig said.

After they'd purchased the car, they waited out front for Juice to bring the tow-truck; Gabby couldn't drive yet, and none of the boys were volunteering to leave their motorbikes behind. They all watched the caryard across the road as a beat-down ford rolled in.

"That car looks familiar," Tig told them.

A thin man stepped out, glancing around as he approached the dealer.

Filip turned to Tig, grinning. "And the guy? Ye haven't added a new edition to yer family tha' ye forgot to mention, have ye?"

Tig flipped him off. "Shut up. I'm tellin' ya, man, I've seen that car before."

"O' course ye have. I believe ye."

Filip slouched in a chair, beer in hand, as he watched the croweaters struggling to clean up the mess from last night. Empty bottles, smoke butts and suspicious substances covered the floor. Tables and chairs were upended, and the black ball from the pool table had managed to find itself in the toilet, along with a full packet of cigarettes, a bra, and several shoes. And they had to clean up all of it.

Juice fished out a chair and sat next to Filip. "Crazy night, huh?"

"Aye; I woke up on the couch with a whore sleepin' on me legs," Filip told him, taking another swig. At the sight of Juice's raised eyebrow, he added, "nothin' happened, kid."

"Where's Gabby?" Juice asked, as though her absence confirmed his suspicions.

Filip scrunched his face up and scratched his head, trying to remember. "Erm... she went to see 'er friend... erm... Ah, I forgot 'er name. The one with all the kids."

"Lucy?"

"Aye! Tha's the one!"

"She has one kid, Chibs. And another on the way," he added.

There was something in the sound of his voice that Filip couldn't quite put a finger on. He took another swig of beer as he watched the boy. He'd definitely matured since Filip's stay in jail.

"...but ever since he left, too, Gabby's been going over there a lot to help out and stuff," Juice was saying. "I mean, I guess she doesn't have much luck when it comes to relationships, you know?"

"Yeah, sure thing Juicey."

Juice scowled. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"I wasn't overly interested, no," Filip replied. He caught a passing croweater by the arm. "Fetch us a couple o' beers, would ye, love?"

The croweater smiled sweetly. "Of course."

Filip watched the woman as she went to fetch their drinks. "Now, tha', I can get used to."

Juice frowned. "What, you didn't have them in Ireland?"

"Course we did, Juicey! They jus' had a tendency to ignore ye..." His face deepened into a scowl as he reminisced. "Mouthy, stubborn whores they were. Ye'd ask 'em for a drink, and they wouldn't show up with it for another hour."

"Guess you married the best of the bunch, then."

Filip snorted. "Nah, Fi wasn't like tha'. She'd tell ye to yer face to get yer own drink. Most stubborn out of the lot. Didn't give a shite who ye were. I remember once, she told McGee he was a, erm... a 'shite for brains, useless president who couldn't tell 'is arse from 'is elbow'."

"What did McGee say?" Juice asked.

"Ah, 'e offered 'er a drink."

The two looked at each other. Filip chuckled, Juice snorted, and then they both burst out laughing. The croweater arrived with their drinks, confused, and placed the beers on the ground as the two were wrought with laughter.

"I think I ended up on McGee's shite list for about a week, but it was worth it. Rather his than Clay's."

"Yeah, well I'm always on Clay's shit list," Juice moaned.

Filip grinned at him. "I think all of us start out on it and jus'... sorta work our ways off it. Ye'll be fine, Juicey."

Sighing, Juice looked up to see Tig stalking around the club room, openly checking out all of the girls. He slowly made his way over to Filip and Juice.

"What are you doing?" Juice asked.

"Nothin', man. Nothin'." He frowned, as though confused. "Nah, it's nothin'. Look, Bobby was sayin' he's been seein' some new faces in town. Apparently there was this whole group of 'em at one of the Nord's places."

"Wha', the Hairy Dog?"

Tig shrugged. "I don't know, he didn't seem too fazed about it, but I think we should go poke around, you know? See if it's anything to worry about."

He stuck a finger in his ear and started digging around while he waited for Filip's answer.

Filip shook his head. "If Bobby's not worried, I'm not worried."

"You sound like you don't even give a shit, man."

"Tha's because I don't," Filip told him. He exhaled deeply, downing the rest of his drink. "I jus' got out of prison, Tiggy, and I'm no' in any hurry to go back."

Standing up, Filip bid them both goodbye, and left them there as he heading out the clubhouse. Tig turned his gleaming gaze towards a gulping Juice. He stared the younger man down, as though it would scare him into submission.

"What about you?"

"Uh... well, you know. It's... it's nothing to be worried about like Chibs said. Besides, I've gotta visit my mom..."

"Your mom's in New York, Juice."

"My other mom."

Tig refused to let him off that easy. "You wouldn't even that patch if it wasn't for me. I voted you in. Not Chibs, not Bobby or Clay. Me. If I waited for the others before we took it to a vote, you wouldn't even be here. Right?"

Juice hung his head. "Right."

"So let's go. I wanna see who Darby's made friends with."

"But..."

Tig was already halfway to the door. "Now!"