When I stepped up to the glass, a sense of satisfaction washed over me when I saw Grant. Shotgun had done a real number on the sonofabitch. He’d bound Grant’s hands over his head and stripped him of his shirt. Grant’s bloody, swollen face was hanging low with his chin down on his mutilated chest. The bright, fluorescent lights shone down on him, revealing the deep gashes and various stab wounds that covered his entire body. The guy was hanging by a thread, and Shotgun wasn’t close to being done with him. We all watched as Viper talked to Shotgun, informing him of the situation with Badger and Danny. Shotgun glared back at Grant with an enlivened thirst for revenge. Viper stepped over to Grant, fisting his hand in his hair, and jerked his head back as he growled, “You and your boys fucked with the wrong MC.”
“He won’t stop.”
“Who?”
“Not my fight.”
Viper tugged at his hair as he roared, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I can’t,” Grant mumbled. “I can’t do it.”
“You’re only making this shit harder on yourself.”
Grant didn’t respond. His eyes dropped to the floor, and it looked like he was actually about to start fucking crying. I had no idea what the fuck was going on with this guy, but he was clearly not right in the head. Flustered, Viper released Grant and barked, “Have it your way.”
“I can’t. I just can’t.”
“You can, and you fucking will!” Viper roared, then stormed out of the room. He came over and stood next to me, panting as he tried to settle the rage that was burning deep inside him. It took him several moments, but he eventually announced, “Shotgun hasn’t gotten much out of him yet. Just that there are more of them than just the five that showed up at Stilettos that night.”
The other brothers were listening as I asked, “Are they part of a gang or an MC?”
“Not sure what they are. Just that they’re some kind of vigilante group who sets out to get folks who’ve wronged them in some way. He keeps going on and on about the main guy being fucked up in the head. Apparently, he’s done some pretty vile shit over the past couple of years.”
“And now they’ve turned their attention to us.”
“Certainly looking that way.” When he saw the expression on my face, he shook his head and said, “This shit isn’t on you, brother. These motherfuckers came into our house and pulled shit they had no business pulling. You did right doing what you did to that asshole. I’m thinking there’s a whole lot more to this shit than that anyway.”
“He’s right,” Hawk chimed in. “Don’t care how fucking crazy you are. You don’t go starting a war with an MC like ours without good reason.”
“Agreed. Now, we just gotta figure out what that reason is.” Viper turned his attention back to the two-way glass. “Hopefully, Shotgun will break this guy soon, and we can get some answers.”
When the others started to disperse, I went over to Viper and said, “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Yeah? Whatcha got on your mind?”
“The lockdown. I’m not sure what to do about Frankie.”
“She the girl you’ve been talking to?”
“Yeah.” I had no idea how he knew about her. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Viper always knew everything that was going on with his brothers. I let out a deep breath as I shook my head with frustration. “I want to do whatever I can to make sure she and her boys are safe, but I’m not sure she’s ready for a full-on lockdown. It might scare her off.”
Viper cocked his eyebrow. “It’s a tricky situation you got there, brother. You gotta know she’s gonna find out about the club life sooner or later.”
“I’m aware, but it’s too soon for something like this. She’s got a past like mine. Too much too soon will have her running, and I can’t have that. Took me too long to find her to lose her over something like this.”
“We’ll put two prospects on ‘em. As long as it looks like they’re in the clear, we’ll leave them be, but if things get much hotter, you’re gonna need to bring them in.”
“Understood.”
As he turned to leave, he looked back to me and said, “Proud of you, brother. Good to see you’re finally taking a chance.”
With that, he continued down the hall, leaving me alone there in the hallway. I turned back to the window and watched as Shotgun continued to torment Grant in ways I could’ve never imagined. Most of our brothers couldn’t stomach such a horrific scene. The torture and the screams got to be too much, but it didn’t bother me like it should. Instead, I was intrigued by it. I envied the fact that Shotgun could dig deep into his own personal darkness and use his demons for the good of the club. After standing there watching him for over an hour, I finally forced myself to leave the attraction of the two-way mirror and went to find the others.