I held my breath, unsure of whether to be nervous or excited.
“I can tell something is wrong. The musical lilt in your voice is missing.”
Crap, she wasn’t going to let this go. “I really don’t want to talk about it, okay? How’ve you and Dad been?”
Mom sighed. “Fine, fine, fine. I’ll mind my own business.”
“Thank you.”
The two bikers passed by again, presumably leaving the trailer park. I wasn’t sure if they were Knights or Hunters. I really shouldn’t care one way or the other. But I didn’t want either knocking at my door.
“Your father and I are good. We just miss our kids.”
“Have you heard from my globe-trotting brother recently?”
“Yes, last weekend. He’s still in Europe. Said he’d try to pass through on his way to his next job.”
My heart kicked up a notch. “Pass-through, meaning?”
“Minnesota, I think.”
I squealed. “Really? I need to text him.” I hadn’t spoken to my older brother since before school let out. He worked too damn much. All he seemed to care about was his job. He’d likely deny it, but I believed our beloved Tommy had something to do with it. Tommy’s death had changed us all, especially Toby.
“Been too busy to text even your brother?” The disappointment in her voice gutted me. I should’ve been better about staying in touch with my family, especially when I hadn’t worked all month.
Damn you, Storm.I let out an exasperated breath, blaming him for screwing with my head and twisting me in knots. He’d stolen all of my attention.
Well, not anymore. I was done with Mr. Biker Prez.
“You and Dad should come for a visit. We could meet in The Cities, go to the MIA and Mall of America. Hit up some new restaurants and just wing it.”
“Sounds lovely. I’ll talk to him and get back to you. Bring Tara. We’d love to see her. And if there is a young man in your life, we’d love to meet him.”
Young man? I almost snorted. Storm was the furthest thing from what my mom considered a “young man.” I didn’t think my parents would judge him harshly for being a biker with tattoos, rings on his fingers, and a snarl to his lip. But I knew they wouldn’t be thrilled I was with him. They were traditional conservatives. They had accepted an MC ran their town, but they hadn’t befriended any of them. They just stayed out of the way.
I should’ve stayed out of Storm’s way. How was I so weak with him? Well, it didn’t matter anymore. He dropped me like a hot potato.
Mom continued talking while I enjoyed listening to her pleasant voice. But Storm wasn’t far from my thoughts, which downright irritated me.
Screw Storm. If he didn’t want me, I didn’t want him either.
21
Storm
I felt the bone crack when my right fist connected with his pointy nose. Blood gushed. The dude grunted, cowering away as I leered at him. We’d finally gotten our hands on two of the fuckin’ Hunters. This one with a red river soaking his white T-shirt dared to mention Madeline and her redheaded friend being worth top dollar.
I fuckin’ lost it, smashing my fist into the fucker’s face before he blinked. I was hardly satisfied with one punch, so I drove my left fist into his gut, knocking the air out of him. He fell to the ground. It barely sufficed but I needed to stay in control. We weren’t out to kill anyone… today, anyway. Boxer and Hero held onto the other cocky cunt. I’d introduce him to my fist next.
For the last three days, the Knights had been out in full force, divided between Bastion and Winters. This weekend was the Fourth of July, and the Hunters hadn’t vacated the area. We had combed the streets, trying to capture our enemy with no results until today.
I wasn’t delusional. We couldn’t wipe the Hunters out of the town in two days, but we could send the fuckers a message.
Boxer, Hero, and I had seen these bastards leaving Madeline’s trailer park. We kept our distance, following them to the north side of town, to The Wild Hog. The club provided security for the bar, so we strutted in and grabbed them without any incident.
Now we were in the back alley beating the shit out of them.
“Why haven’t you fuckers left Knight’s territory?”