Healing Gabe (Last Hangman MC Book 3)

by Muriel Garcia

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” He lifts my chin so I’m forced to look at him.

  “Because she had fallen for you. I wanted her to be happy and maybe have a chance to get out of this grave Trent had been digging for us.” I sigh.

  “Do you think that if things had happened differently between all three of us that she’d still be alive?” He kisses my forehead.

  “Trent wasn’t the type of man who’d take no for an answer, especially when it would go against what he wanted and slow him down. Annie and I not doing what he wanted us to do was putting a huge dent in his plans to make the biggest MC in Louisiana. He was too hungry for power and money that no matter what, he’d eliminate whoever was in his way, us included. You being with her might have sped up the process, but in the end, the outcome would have been the same. I’d have had the same fate as her too.” He strokes my hair and I kiss his chest.

  “How did you get out? What was your life like?” He caresses the small of my back, drawing random patterns.

  “The day of Annie’s funeral, I managed to sneak a bag out of Trent’s house with a few of my belongings, what I’d need the most. I asked Cabe to help me out to take Trent down and well you know what happened that day. That night, as I was leaving, Cabe followed me on his bike and stopped me. He gave me 10K and fake papers and ID. I left Louisiana and prayed that they wouldn’t find me. A couple of times I saw them around where I was staying. I guess Trent had their charters keep an eye on me to scare me. It worked sometimes but I moved whenever it was getting too dangerous. I worked in bars, diners, restaurants, anywhere I could to get money. That’s pretty much my life for the past twelve years. As fucked up as it was, I wouldn’t change it, I got to travel the world.” I smile softly.

  “I’m glad you got out. Sounds like life wasn’t so bad on you after that.”

  “I know and yeah, it was good. I can’t complain. I just need a place to call my home.”

  “Don’t we all?” He kisses my forehead.

  “Yeah…” I say softly.

  “How did you end up here?”

  “After you left this morning, I cleaned the house and was so pissed. Every piece of furniture and every room would remind me of what happened between us so I left. I drove aimlessly all day and I stopped to figure out where I was so I could head back home and turns out I was sitting outside my old home. It took me a bit to decide whether to come in or not, but I’m glad I did. So many memories though, but it’s good to be back here and weirdly enough, this feels more like home than it did back then.” I sigh softly.

  “That’s because this is the only thing that’s left of your family. I wish I was still living in our old house.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Why aren’t you?” I look up at him.

  “They burned it down years ago. No one was hurt but we lost everything. Cabe let us stay here for a while until we found a new place to live in. Doesn’t feel like home either.”

  “I’m sorry. Fucking bastards.” I sigh.

  “I know, it was more upsetting for Nicole, she is a real hoarder and lost a bunch of things she wanted to save from our parents, we managed to save most of the pictures we had so that’s something.”

  “I’m glad you were able to. How has Nicole been? I saw her the other day. She wasn’t too pleased with me and warned me not to hurt you.” I smile softly.

  “Really?” He chuckles and I nod. “That doesn’t surprise me coming from her. I’m overprotective of her, any guy approaching her had to go through me so I guess it’s only fair she does the same. She was worried about me. I hit rock bottom pretty fast and still had to take care of her. It was tough but Cabe and the rest of the guys helped me. I’ll never be able to thank them enough. Things could have gone really wrong but they were there for me all along. I tried my best to keep busy with work and find a new house and make sure she had all she wanted, which wasn’t easy, especially when she hit her teenage years. I wanted to strangle her more often than not.” I chuckle.

  “I bet she was a handful. She still is feisty but seems loyal and sweet.”

  “She is. I hope she’ll like you. I’m planning to keep you around.” He smirks.

  “And what exactly do you mean by that?” I raise my eyebrow.

  “I mean that I want you around, I want us to have some fun and not stress about whatever kind of label people want to put on us.”

  “So you want to be friends with benefits?” I look at him, not pleased with the idea.

  “Kinda, yeah.” He shrugs and kisses my forehead. “What do you say?”

  “I…uh…”I sigh.

  “Hey, no over thinking things, we’ll see where this takes us. I can’t predict the future, but a lot of things are happening at the moment with the club. Can’t talk about them but I need you to be there for me. I don’t want relationship drama, I don’t do relationships. I just want us to be close and see how and where things go. You make me feel alive and it feels fucking good. Don’t take that away from me.” And I’m melting into a big mush puddle. How can I say no to that? Either he means it or he’s very good at those mind games. I hope it’s not the latter. That’d be heart-breaking.

  “I guess we can try.” I look up at him.

  “Thank you Doll.” He whispers before kissing me as passionately as ever, leaving me breathless, speechless and dizzy.

  This might be a stupid fucking idea but I owe it to myself to give it a try, this might be the only way for me to ever be with him and I’m not about to ruin it, again.

  CHAPTER 14

  Gabe

  I didn’t sleep at all last night, instead I spent it watching Viv sleep. I should tell her about the surprise meeting with the Kings today and what could happen but I don’t want to worry her. I know she would try to stop me, even though she knows it would be pointless. I need to be there to keep my brothers safe. I have to go with my brothers and take down those motherfuckers once and for all to keep my woman safe. I’m doing it for her, not just Ayden and Line but she would never see it that way. She’s too fucking stubborn.

  I kiss her forehead softly and move off the bed as quietly and slowly as possible, trying not wake her up. I take in her beautiful relaxed face, plump lips that beg to be kissed, her soft purple hair, her even softer porcelain skin. She is perfect. She moves closer to where I was lying, no doubt looking for my warmth. I smile softly; it warms my cold heart that she is looking for me after I moved. I wrap a blanket around her and brush my lips over hers softly. “You have no idea of all the things you make me feel.” I whisper, barely audible. I pick up the receipt from last night’s food and write her a note and gather my holster, gun and wallet before making my way silently downstairs. I shoot Bennett a text.

  Me: Hey Brother, can you come keep an eye on Viv for me?

  Bennett: Of course G-man. Does she even know who I am? Where?

  Me: No. Careful. She bites! House where you stayed when you first joined us.

  I chuckle at my text and make myself a cup of coffee, waiting for him to get here. I keep replaying the past couple of days in my head, feeling like a part of my dead heart is coming back to life. I don’t know where this will lead us or if we have a future. I have so many questions but I can’t let this distract me from the task we have to do today.

  I finish my coffee and put the cup in the sink and walk outside when I hear a bike park in front of the house.

  “Hey Gabe.”

  “Hey Brother.” I clap his back on my way to my car. “Be careful with her, she’s stubborn and can be feisty. Don’t mention any club business, no matter what. She grew up in this, her father was a Hangman, so she knows what we are bound to do, but I don’t need her to know exactly what’s going down today.”

  “Alright. Don’t worry, I’ve got this. If I managed to survive Ayden and Charline together, I should be able to handle your woman.” He snickers.

  “Dickhead. She’s not my woman.” I sigh.

  “She is, you’re just too chicken shit to admit it.�
� He shrugs. I wanna punch him but I don’t have the time.

  “When you’re done gossiping like a woman, you can go inside and keep an eye on her.” I glare at him and get into my car.

  “You know I’m right, you’re just too scared to admit it.”

  “What do you know?” I glare at him.

  “I just know. You’re acting the exact same way Aleck did. You want her but can’t be with her because you’re trying to keep her safe. And just like Aleck, you trying to keep her at arm’s length is going to hurt her more than you can imagine. The safest place for her is by your side.” He states matter of factly.

  “Whatever.” I groan as I put my car in reverse and drive away. The kid is probably right, but I’m not ready to admit that. I can’t think about this, not now, not today.

  I drive the couple of miles to my house, park the car in the garage and jump on my bike, driving away. I know I’m late, not much but enough for Ant, Ray and Ric to be pissed. I speed to catch up with them and get into the group, behind our three leaders. I get a couple of glares but can’t be bothered to care right now.

  I hope everything goes without too much trouble for us. We can’t risk losing anyone, especially not Ant and Aleck. I dread having to tell Ayden or Charline that anything happened to them. I shake those thoughts away and focus on what we have to do. It’s a do or die situation. We need to have the upper hand. We will outnumber them today, but we need to make sure that they take a bad hit.

  So much shit has been going on within the club that the smallest thing is going to make it crumble. Jared is still power hungry and is trying to achieve what Trent tried to set up. The only problem for them is that no one wants to ally themselves with them so they are using women for anything they can, be it sex or blackmail. They’re killing innocent people for no reason, and ruining kids’ lives with their poor quality drugs, all because he wants to control Louisiana. It’s fucking chaos and we need to fix it.

  We get to the point of exchange two hours early, we need all the time we can get to make sure we’re able to get everything ready and hide before they get here.

  “I don’t know why the fuck you were late joining us, but we take this very fucking seriously. If you don’t, you still have time to leave.” Ric spits at me.

  “I take this very seriously. I was making sure someone was safe, especially considering what’s going to go down today.” I glare at him.

  “Viv.” I’m pretty sure I pale as he says her name.

  “How do you know about her?” I growl.

  “Because Jared has been after her for twelve years, she’s back in town and I figured you might want to keep her protected so he doesn’t get to her.” He smirks.

  “If you or your men touch one hair on her head, I’ll end you all with my bare fists.” I growl, getting in his face.

  “Easy. I’m not threatening either of you. Just warning you that Jared is still after her, even if he hasn’t done anything to hurt her, he’s been dead set on scaring her back to him. In the beginning, we wanted an alliance with them. They were the most powerful club around. What they were asking us to do back then was reasonable, do a couple deals for them, some runs, but then, they wanted us to get them women. We’re not proud, we got two willing women to go party with them. To this day, I still regret doing it, we never saw them again and I don’t know what happened. We told them we didn’t want anything to do with that kind of business and he seemed to understand which is unlike Jared. Instead he asked us to keep an eye and scare a particular woman so she would come back here. We had a couple of charters keep an eye on her and follow her everywhere. It clearly worked because she’s back and I’m dreading what will happen to her. We stopped spying on her for a while now. I don’t know exactly the history she has with the club, but keep a close eye on her and take Jared down. Until he’s dead, he’ll always want Vivian.” I’m seeing red. I can’t fucking believe what Ric just said. I knew Jared was fucked up but for fuck’s sake can’t he just give Viv a break?

  “That sick motherfucker, I want him dead.” I growl beyond the point of being pissed.

  “We all do, Brother.” Ant pats my shoulder and motions for everybody to get into position.

  Aleck walks over to me. “Get your head into this. You’re doing this to help Viv live a normal life in her hometown. Don’t fuck this up. I know you can’t stop thinking about her. I understand the feeling, but keep in mind that you have to stay safe if you want to be able to protect her without Bennett trying to hit on her.”

  “Dickhead.” I groan and look for cover with him. “I don’t want her in the middle of this.”

  “I know you don’t, just like I didn’t want Line to be caught up in the middle of club business. In reality, those fuckers were after her, me being with her didn’t make a difference, hell she could have been going out with a bar man and they still would’ve tried to get to her. The exact same thing is happening to Viv. When are you going to get this? Having our brothers watch her over is fine, but at the end of the day she needs you just as much as you need her so pull your head out of your ass and make sure you get back to your woman in one piece.” Aleck scolds me. I sigh knowing the bastard is right.

  “I know.” I rub my face. “I just can’t help it. I want to make sure she’ll be safe. I can’t risk anything happening to her, especially after what Ric just said.”

  “I know. This fucking blows but you gotta hang in there to be with your woman. No matter what happened between the two of you in the past it’s clear to everyone you two are made for each other.”

  “Did Line fucking send you on a mission or what?” I chuckle and shake my head. “Thanks Brother.”

  “Anytime and no, she’s just right.” He shrugs.

  “Pussy whipped.” I mutter and we wait for the Kings to arrive.

  We don’t have to wait long. The fucking traitors were planning the same thing as us. They are here an hour early and go into their warehouse, taking their bikes with them to hide inside and probably attack the Angels when they least expect it. What they don’t know is that the whole fucking place is surrounded by the Last Hangman, the Bastards from Hell and the Fallen Angels.

  Ray smirks and throws a tear gas bomb through one of the only windows while we all get into position. Small groups spread all around the place to make sure none of them can escape.

  It doesn’t take long for the Kings to come rushing out of the warehouse, coughing and blinded by the gas. Few of them are able to look up and see their fate. We don’t hesitate and immediately, we shoot at them, not giving them a chance to retaliate. There are about twenty of them, all of them falling down one after the other. A couple of them fire back, but they aren’t able to aim at us. The Angels unfortunately suffer a loss.

  They are all dead but one. Ant, Ray and Ric walk over to him and kick his gun away.

  “We need to have a little chat.” Ant smirks, clearly mocking him.

  “I…I won’t say a thing!” The guy cowers.

  “I wasn’t asking you to talk. I need you to listen to me. You’re going to go to your little friend Jared, and tell him the Bastards, Angels and Hangman are ready for him. Bring it.” Ant laughs seeing the guy pale. I would too if I were him. The Kings are huge, but us three together? They don’t stand a chance especially since we have a guy on the inside.

  I look over to Sanders, who is dressed like us to blend in, it’s fucking hilarious to see him dressed in leathers and our cut. I try not to laugh at the irony of a detective pretending to be in a MC. “You’re going to tell your chicken shit of a Prez to stop threatening my wife. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish or prove, but I know enough to shut your entire club down, along with a couple of his friendly charters. Tell him to watch his back. He won’t always have all of his minions to make sure his ass is safe.” Sanders spits at him. The man has balls and can’t stand those bastards either, proving his loyalty to us and to the Bastards and Angels.

  “I…I have nothing to do with any of this!”
the guy pleads.

  “Like I give a fuck. We are asking you to deliver a fucking message, just like your sorry ass leader sent you here to give the Angels a fucking message.” Sanders smirks. “Be careful kid, you’re still young, you can still get out of this. I would if I were you, pretty soon you are going to have a long kill list that will haunt you forever and put a target on your back.”

  “Actually, no matter what he does, he’s dead meat. If he goes back and tells Jared what happened, Jared will listen but will kill him, if he tries to run away, he’ll kill him.” Ant shrugs. “You picked the wrong fucking club kid. You should have come to us, at least all the women who come to us are willing and fucking beautiful. We don’t have to steal them from other people to prove that we’re bigger and badder.” Ant mocks the Kings and most of us end up laughing. “Go on and go tell your badass leader we’re waiting for him.”

  The kid scrambles up and rushes back to the warehouse to get on his bike and drive past us. I look at Ant and he nods at me. This is going to be fucking chaos, way worse than it already is.

  “What I said is going to add fuel to the fire, isn’t it?” Sanders asks Ant.

  “Yeah, but it needed to be said anyway so don’t worry about it. Let’s go to the compound and discuss this. You never know who could be listening to us.” Ric chimes in and we all start to move the bodies inside. Fucking shame we have to burn all those bikes. Some are real stunners. Yes, I’m talking about bikes like I talk about women.

  Two hours later, we’re all back at the compound, most of us in the Chapel while others are shooting the shit outside.

  “What you said Sanders, will fuel Jared’s anger for sure, but it was bound to happen. If you hadn’t said it, someone else would have. I’m sorry, Ric, about your man. Wish it had happened without any casualties, but we knew what we were all getting into,” Ant says.