by Raven Scott
“Spyder’s gonna be there, too. He’s meeting us at the Fork. Where’s Parker?” Perching on the arm rest, Davey shrugged over a hard frown, and I rubbed my mouth with my palm. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but Rook’s itching for a fight.”
“Take him to Vegas?” Grunting with a nod, I glanced at the time on my phone absently. We had plenty of time, and I suspected Rook was gonna use up all the hot water. He probably needed it. “I’ll go down with you. Spyder’s mom’s birthday’s comin’ up, and I haven’t gotten her a present yet.”
“She’s hard to shop for, yeah. Spyder gets her tickets to Comic-Con every year. I gave up and just usually get her a prepaid card.” That geeky broad always ignored every other present, anyway. Spyder’s mother was one of a kind, and once those tickets entered her field of vision, she never took her eyes off them. Every year, it was the same thing, and a fond smile crested my face. “I figure it’d get her a couple of figurines and some nice food, at least.”
“Speakin’ of food . . . when’d you get a girlfriend?” Davey wasn’t gonna bug me for answers, and I shrugged lightly. “That chick from the restaurant?”
“Yeah. I dunno. We’re just goin’ out every once and a while and fuckin’ occasionally. She lives up in Provo. Bit of a drive. Plus, I don’t exactly want her comin’ down here because of those dicks the Hellraisers.” The world seemed to gray at the mention, and I tapped my heel on the carpet as disgust coated my teeth. “They followed me around when I was getting clothes and shit for Rook. I’d like to pretend I could take them on, but . . .”
“Yeah. I heard from Spyder that the Reapers are lookin’ at them for some shit they stirred up in Montana.” That’s not good. Well, it could be good . . . for us. The Reapers lived up to their name, and that was why Spyder gave them a wide berth. Rightfully so. “Warpath benefits them, even if it’s minuscule in the grand scheme of things. You make enough enemies. Even if they’re small individually, it can be overwhelming. It’s makin’ the rounds that Saint George Hellraisers is turnin’ eyes to Vegas after their last burn.”
“The only thing Hellraisers have going for them is sheer brutality. That might fly here, and barely, but they’ll be obliterated in Vegas. Damon will make sure of that.” I shook my head at the turn this conversation had taken, and Davey sat back to run his hand through his curly, jet black hair. “Regardless, today, I’m gonna worry about Rook not getting into Nicole’s pants.”
Chapter Thirteen
Bruiser
“Why are we stopping?” Ignoring Rook to pull over on the side of the road, I turned off my bike and pulled off my helmet to shake my head wildly. Davey and Parker pulled up behind me, and I nudged Rook off my bike. Realization flashed in his eyes, his face closing like a brick wall as he pointed an accusatory finger at me. “Are you gonna leave me out here and make me walk back or somethin’?”
“No, but I will if I have to. Why’d you get sent down here, Rook?” Spyder spoke up from across the street, and we had Rook surrounded. We were in the middle of the desert, a dozen miles from anywhere, and he couldn’t take all of us on. Part of me hoped he’d fess the fuck up so we could figure out what to do next, but the reality was going to be different, I knew. “Your uncle’s paying me a fuck load more than I think you’re worth, so whatever you did, it must be bad.”
“I didn’t do anything! That bitch lied to save herself!” Almost immediately, Rook realized his mistake as his voice crackled through the quiet, still desert. Trembling fists tightened, white-knuckled, by his sides, and his shoulders curled sharply. Expectation hung heavy in the air, and I sat back in the saddle to pull out a pack of smokes from my pocket.
“What happened?” He was trapped, and he knew it; holding his head, Rook crouched down to bluster a huge sigh through his knees. Rocking back onto his ass, he scratched his scalp roughly as he geared himself up for a confession. I sparked a match, taking a deep breath of my cigarette and holding it.
“We were goin’ out, but she didn’t wanna tell her dad. He was some hot shot local politician and cared a lot about looks. After a while, I talked about movin’ in together. I loved her, but she said, ‘no, what will my father think,’ like I cared what he thought, “My throat tightened with a bitter laugh as Rook’s confession aligned perfectly with my suspicions, but I gulped it down. Of course, it was about a girl. I could still remember the first girl I thought I loved. Her face, though. Not her name.
“So, she broke up with you or somethin’? That doesn’t explain why you’re down here.” I stared down at Rook as he scowled bitterly and shook his head. “What’d you do?”
“I tried to convince her to at least hint to her dad that she was going out with someone. See what he would say. Feel him out. But she told me to fuck off. Screamed she didn’t love me anyway and was just using me for sex and some thrill. Told me she’d never risk her cushy life for me. Fuckin’ waste of four years.” It took every ounce of self-control not to choke on smoke in shock. Four fucking years? No wonder Rook was a fucking mess. Sharing a glance with Spyder, I scowled darkly, and he jerked his chin out. “I was so pissed. I was so fucking mad. She shoulda fucking left me if she didn’t wanna be with me. I woulda gotten over it eventually. But no . . . she used me, lied . . . said she loved me when she didn’t.”
“What’d you do, Rook?” Repeating himself, Spyder crossed his arms as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Did you out her?”
“Yeah. It might’ve been a secret, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have proof. My dad says that all the time, never do anything without proof you’ve done it. And he was mad, and then . . .” Trailing off, Rook held his head in his hands and blustered a tired, sad sigh. “She said I raped her. That I threatened to ruin her if she didn’t do what I wanted, gave this sob story of how she was so scared I’d kill her or whatever because we’re ‘poor, violent trailer trash’. You can guess who her dad believed. Even with the pictures, the texts, the truth stopped mattering the moment she said I forced her. So, that’s why my dad sent me down here.”
“That’s definitely a reason to flee the country. A false accusation like that doesn’t just go away. You’re guilty regardless if you did it or not. Murderers get treated better than guys that stick their dicks in crazy.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I spoke up, an automatic shiver of disgust and horror slithering up my spine. Floundering onto his back on the road, Rook flung out his arms and kicked his feet. “This all happened on our way up that day. Uncle Minter must’ve wanted you gone if they come lookin’ for you.”
“That explains why he paid us so much. He didn’t have time to negotiate and risk us saying no. I know you would’ve done it yourself, Bruiser, so why’d he involve the club?” Spyder’s gruff question had no answer I could see, and I shook my head under his questioning gaze. “I’m guessing you’ve got an idea about that, Rook?”
“I can never go back. Dad said it’ll follow me forever, even if she admits to lying. I’ll always be the guy that raped a politician’s daughter even though I didn’t. It’s bad for business, but also, the moment she said that, my life was over. My dad said that it’d be easy to explain away why I’m here if I joined you like Bruiser did.” I rolled my shoulders in a futile attempt to get away from the uncomfortable tightness. The silence was damning, and I took a deep breath of my cigarette and closed my eyes, flopping my head back to exhale. “It happened so fast. My dad doesn’t like you, but he trusts you. He figured it’d be a neat tie up to get all you involved and that as long as he didn’t have to keep up a lie, he could keep it under wraps. When Bruiser got sent down here to help after your uncle kicked the bucket, everything went really well, he says.”
“You can’t put a price on family, Spyder,” Parker spoke up, fingering that purple-pink bead string on his cut. “I’m sure, to Minter, it’s not even a dent in his supply or revenue. We’re not his only train.”
“Kid’s got no option for citizenship, though. We’re gonna have to fake it.” Davey spoke up from my left, and I
grunted lowly in acknowledgment as I rubbed the back of my head thoughtfully. “Even though that’s not difficult, we’re gonna have issues when Hellraisers start kicking up shit for real. Right now, they’re just causing shit because they can. Rook’s here illegally. If he gets caught, he’s gonna get deported back to Canada, and getting him back into the country’s not gonna be easy if that happens.”
“Even if they tried something, it’s not like we can’t get the kid outta there. Forget that for now. We’re here to figure out what to do about him.” Pointing at Rook, staring at the sky listlessly, Spyder frowned darkly. “He’s not in a good way. What’re you plannin’ to do about it, Bruiser?”
“We’re gonna go to Vegas over the weekend. Davey and I already talked about it.” I met Davey’s eye, and he nodded firmly even though it’d only been briefly mentioned once. Scuffing the heel of my boot on the asphalt, I turned my gaze back to my cousin to frown. “We’ll see what happens. It’s not gonna go away overnight, but hopefully, it’ll ease up.”
“He’s young and had his first heartbreak and betrayal. Woulda been nice if it was just being cheated on, but . . .” Parker shrugged carelessly, and my frown morphed into a scowl as I shot him a glare, but he ignored me. That little shit. “We can’t do anything about it right now. It’s Tuesday, I gotta make that run to Texas to get back on Friday, and whether you wanna worry about it now or not, Saint George’s Highway Hellraisers are becoming a problem, and we have to discuss it.”
“I hear you, Parker, but even if they’re gearing up for something, we have no choice but to be reactionary right now. Hailey also said they were comin’ out in more force, but we don’t have enough information to plan anything.” Hailey again, huh? That bitch was sniffin’ where she didn’t belong, and I stared shrewdly at Spyder. It was getting harder and harder to keep Hailey’s big-ass nose out of shit, and he shook his head to clear his uncertainty from creasing his brows. “It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to bulk him up. Give him an outlet.”
“You wanna make him an Enforcer? Spyder, I don’t think that’s a good idea with him bein’ this way.” I scoffed loudly, punctuating my point, and Spyder rolled his eyes at me.
“Do you have a better idea what to do with him? It’ll give him some money, a purpose, and more importantly, a reason to fucking shower every day. You wanna leave him like this, Bruiser?” Biting my tongue, I didn’t reply at Spyder’s pointed question, and he nodded firmly. “Done deal, then. Monday, kid’s on the payroll. Davey will keep me updated on what happens over the weekend.”
Clenching and released my jaw as Spyder mounted his bike to pull a U-turn and head back to Margot, my lip curled in a snarl. Rook stayed on the ground, maybe reconsidering his life. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. Davey sauntered over to me, his hair bright under the harsh sun, to clap a hand on my shoulder.
“If the kid’s anything like you or Minter, he’ll be fine with something to punch. You hungry? Wanna grab some lunch? I bet he hasn’t eaten all week, and if he has, he threw it up in seconds.” Rook lifted his head at the mention of food, the clouds in his eyes clearing some before he sat up to ruffle his hair violently. I jerked my head in a nod, tossing my half-smoked cigarette into the dirt before Davey headed back to his bike.
This is all just fucking wonderful.
Chapter Fourteen
Nicole
“So, that excuse you gave me at my apartment . . . how’d it work out? Did you figure out what happened with your little cousin?” Bruiser stiffened across the small, square table, and expectation rose my brows when he shot me a dark look. He wore a nice, gray, short-sleeved button down that blended into his faded cut, and his tattoos rippled as he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “What happened to him?”
“Some rich girl mercilessly broke his heart. I knew it had to have something to do with a girl, but . . . the first one’s always the worst. He’ll be okay.” I took my wine glass in hand as Bruiser paused, his eyes flashing darkly when they met mine. “It’s complicated. My uncle and Rook had a stick up their asses since I came here permanently. It’s pretty damned ironic that he’s joining Warpath with everything going on with another club.
“Another motorcycle club?” Instantly the air chilled, and my mouth dried as Bruiser scowled nastily. Goosebumps swept up my arms, and I took a sip of my wine to clear the dense lump in my throat. I didn’t know anything about the club lifestyle, but one thing I’d learned in a very short amount of time is that danger was everywhere you looked. It was only a natural assumption they’d have some sort of issue with a local one. Then again, I assume it was my first guess.
“I wouldn’t call them that. I’d call them wannabe gangsters on badly supped up dirt bikes. The difference between my club and their gang is they’re violent drug addicted losers that don’t know the difference between a slipper clutch and a multi-plate clutch.” I tensed at that, but Bruiser waved his hand in dismissal as he rolled his eyes. “You know those idiots that once installed a radio in their car, wrong, and suddenly decide they’re mechanics? That’s them.”
“Oh. That sounds insufferable, actually.” Licking my lips as I set my wine glass down, I inhaled in preparation as Bruiser grunted lowly in agreement. “I’m sorry about your cousin. I remember when my boyfriend in high school broke up with me. It sucked. Do you guys know each other well? Does he have dual citizenship, too?”
“Nah, we haven’t seen much of each other since I moved here, but he’s eleven years younger than me. We had an okay relationship. From what he told me, I think he’ll be fine—enough about him. I talked about that little shit all day. What about you, Nicole? We’re here to celebrate your gig!” Flames licked up my neck at the pride twinkling in Bruiser’s eyes, and he reached across the table to grab my hand. Tangling his fingers around mine, they were hard and hot, and I bit my inner cheek as electricity rippled up my arm. “Tell me about that. That’s amazing, baby.”
“Yeah, it’s great. I was kinda shocked he contacted me, but he said something about a painting I did for a friend of his, and he’d admired it for a while. I don’t know who it was, though. I’ve never done anything this big, so I’m really nervous. What he wants is basically a panoramic style of his family. That’s a lot of pressure.” A smile crept onto my face, excitement and nerves coiling in my gut, and pointed interest masked Bruiser’s handsome features. “It’s gonna be worth it. I know it’s bad, but I Googled the guy, and he’s pretty prominent. I’m hoping that he’ll bring in higher commissions.”
“So, you have eight months to deliver it. How do you start something so big?” He sounded genuinely interested in my art, and I grabbed my wine glass with my free hand to take a sip. “I can barely draw a stick figure right, so . . .”
We shared a laugh before the waitress appeared out of the corner of my eye with our appetizer, and Bruiser released my hand to sit back. This restaurant was a real steak-and-chicken place, not a single scrap of seafood anywhere on the menu. Our sampler platter had little tasters of pasta, steak cubes, vegetables, and my mouth watered when the waitress set it down in front of us.
“Um, yeah, so basically, what I’m gonna do for this project is base the entire canvas out.”
“Base the canvas out?” I didn’t have a clue what it meant.
Nicole released an adorable laugh. “We’re going to lay down the background colors first. Relax, I’ll show you. In paintings like this one, multiple bases need to be on the canvas so I can really get into detail with the sky, background, etc.”
I nodded in understanding, and Nicole cleared her throat to finish what she was saying a moment ago. “The client wants a more ethereal kinda thing going on, like pink clouds or something. His wife’s gonna be on the left side, and his younger daughter’s gonna be in the middle chasing butterflies. Really, it’s not a difficult concept. It’s just the size of it that’s gonna be the challenging part.” I picked up my fork as I spoke, and Bruiser’s brows rose across the small table. The ring on my finger flashed in the low light add
ing to the intimate atmosphere, and I flexed my fingers. “When I spoke to him on the video call, he was so enthusiastic. It was fascinating meeting someone that gushed so openly about his wife and daughters.”
“I take it your father’s more on the quiet side?” Nodding, I held out my hand to gaze at the diamond ring, and a smile tilted my lips. “You love that fuckin’ ring, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, and my smile grew massively. “It reminds me of my grandmother, and I cherish this thing so freaking much. I’m just still pissed at everything that went down at my sister’s wedding. Somehow, for some reason, I still feel a tinge of guilt, like what Tom did was somehow my fault,”
“It wasn’t your fault, and it isn’t now. Stop holdin’ onto the past and let that shit go, baby. None of it matters anymore.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I mean, I just can’t shake what happened out of my head. I said ‘no’. I think he thought if he did it in public, he’d pressure me to say yes.”
“You probably would’ve, though.” Replying quickly, Bruiser caught my gaze as I sunk in my chair a bit and frowned, covering my eyes with my fingers. “The only reason you didn’t was because you gave your family a heads up it could’ve happened. Hell, you warned them in a sense. Fuck, if you didn’t have that fight at the gas station, and you didn’t tell your sister about it, you woulda said yeah and had one less reason to leave him. Because you agreed. You know, Nicole, you gotta learn to tell people to fuck off more.”
“I know that. Trust me. My sister tells me all the time to stop being so considerate.” I scrunched up my nose in disgust, but Bruiser cast me a comforting smile as he nudged my leg with his booted foot under the table.
“You’re sweet.” Blushing fiercely, a little giggle escaped me, and Bruiser smiled with tenderness blazing from his eyes. “Your sister doesn’t know what she’s talkin’ about. Being a considerate, sweet person just means you gotta surround yourself with people that don’t mind being the bad guy.”
