My own tiredness sets in, and I succumb to sleep. Unfortunately, there’s not enough alcohol in my system to drown out memories that like to torment me in my dreams—my nightmares.
And the stars blinked as they
watched her carefully, jealous
of the way she shone.
- Atticus
My leg aches as I stand on that side for too long causing me to shift and relieve some pressure.
Fuckin’ Lion.
Of course, I’d be the motherfucker who was attacked out of the brothers. That’s neither here nor there; it’s been forever since that fucked-up day. I need to let that shit go already. I’ve gotten a lot of my strength and movement back with a shit ton of work, but my leg will never be the same as it used to be. Guess that’s what happens when a Lion decides to use you as an appetizer. I damn sure can’t run for shit; guess if I’m being chased I’ll have to shoot instead of run.
Stupid fuckin’ cartel.Those bastards always fuck shit up. I still think we should find every one of those sneaky bastards and light them up. It’d solve a lot of problems, but the brothers think I’m crazy.
‘I’m angry, and they get it.’ They don’t get shit. They weren’t attacked, their lives weren’t completely changed. Thank fuck it didn’t mess with me playing too. It screwed me out of riding for about a year. Hell, the doc said not to ever ride again. Fuckin’ idiot, like I wasn’t gonna ride again. I told him to get the fuck outta here with that shit. I’m not a pussy; I’m not giving up my bike.
I lean against the wall a bit more, my sticks digging into my ass, reminding me that they’re there. I usually stick them back there if I have a gig and then forget about them. I played last night with a local band. Chaos and Ex came out to show some support, then we got pretty fucked up on whiskey afterward. Damn sure beat this barbecue going on right now.
Don’t get me wrong, Viking’s my brother, and I have his back one hundred and fifty percent. I even think Princess is good for him. It’s not them; it’s Bethany. She was the last person I was expecting to see.
When Vike first announced he was getting hitched, of course, I instantly thought of B stopping through. Princess hasn’t said a word about her since she split. One minute she was here in my bed and the next she’d left town. The bitch doesn’t even visit her best friend. I thought maybe they stopped talking or something.
Then to top it off, she only says two words to me. The last time I saw her, I thought for sure she was into me. She would stare at me like I was a goddamn puppy or some shit. She’s a prime example of why I don’t let women in too close. The club is my family; they’re all I need.
There’s just one little detail that’s driving me crazy. So much so, that I find myself making my way to Viking’s office. He’s not supposed to be working this week since he’s getting married, but I saw him sneak into his office. He’s either in there for some quiet or because he’s a damn control freak and can’t stand letting other people handle shit for him.
Opening the door, I slide in quickly and shut it, so no one knows we’re in here.
“Brother?” He glances at me, eyebrow raised.
“Saw Bethany.”
He nods, taking his seat behind the desk. I do the same, sitting in one of the broken-in leather seats opposite him. We’re not big talkers the two of us. We both think a lot before opening our mouths, so our conversations are usually short and straight to the point. This is one time I don’t know how to bring something up, though.
Very few members know how I feel about Bethany. Vike found out by pure luck when he was on the hunt for Princess. I slipped up a few times and my brother caught on. The others are like a group of gossiping broads and too wrapped up in themselves to pay attention to my shit.
Viking, not so much. We’re broody fuckers who often growl at people more than we speak, so he pretty much knew by the second look I gave the chick that I was planning on fucking her.
“She’s here for the wedding.” He takes a healthy gulp of beer.
“Figured.”
After a few moments of silence, he speaks again. “That all brother?”
“No.”
He nods again, staring me down, but I don’t know how to sugarcoat shit, so I stay quiet for a few more minutes, making shit awkward. Eventually, he goes back to working on whatever he was doing when I interrupted him, and I blurt out the thoughts bothering me.
“She had a kid with her.” So what if I followed her when Princess took her. I wasn’t about to let her escape that easily. Then she grabbed up a little boy. That had my step faltering and letting her go without me interfering. Now I can’t stop thinking about it.
“Yeah, I met him this morning.”
“First time?”
“Yep.”