Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“But you…” I remember all too clearly how easily the three of them dealt with the men who attacked me.
“Lemme ask you a question. Let’s say you do this. You get your brother out of prison. You think he’s going to settle down and start selling houses or repairing air conditioners?”
“I—I haven’t really thought about it.” In my head, Danny is just Danny, my older brother. Up until I saw him the other day, he’s been eternally nineteen in my head. I’ve only focused on getting him out of jail, not what comes after.
Mack shrugs. “Maybe he will, I don’t fucking know, but not everyone’s cut out for that. I didn’t start volunteering in order to make more productive tax paying citizens. I do it so that the kids who’ll never fit into that mold no matter how hard they fucking try will know that they are still fucking worth it. That they can choose to stand for something.”
I swear my heart flips in my chest. “Will you… if I get to the bottom of this and Danny gets out. Will you help him?”
Mack is quiet for a long time before finally nodding. “Yeah, yeah, baby. If he’s willing to accept it, I’ll see what I can do. But you gotta know, if he ends up like us, can you live with that?”
Fifteen year old me would have been destroyed by the idea of her brother in a motorcycle club, living outside the rules and at risk every day. But when I think about Scrapper, Reaper and Mack, all I can think is that he would be lucky to have people like this around him. “Yeah, I can.”
He leans back and takes a deep draw on his milkshake. “Listen, I'm not gonna tell you what to do because I know if I was in your spot I’d do whatever I thought was right, no matter what the fuck some biker told you. I bet your brother warned you the exact same way, and if you're not listening to your own goddamn flesh and blood, you're not gonna listen to me either. So I'm gonna tell you this instead. You don’t do shit without us as backup. You got that?”
“Mack… I don't know what to say. Why?”
He grins. “Think of it as saving lives.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whoever touches you will fucking die. I mean that. I’m all for second chances, but not if it puts the people under my protection at risk.” His tone is light, but there’s murder in his eyes. He means every word.
“And I’m one of those people?”
“Darlin’, I’ve felt you come on my dick, and when the cards were down and you thought you were done, you called us.” He flicks a fry at me. “You fucking know you are. Now finish your damn burger.”
14
REAPER
Chef's making eggs and bacon this morning, and against all fucking odds, he's sharing. Not like we can't make our own damn breakfast, but if the food's already available, we're not gonna turn it down either. Jewel, his old lady, who's turned her hair a brilliant blue since last I saw her, drops an extra plate of bacon on the table as she walks by. “You boys look hungry.”
“You fucking spoil us, Jewel. If you ever get sick of your old man and you're looking for a break—” Scrapper winks.
“Fuck off!” Chef yells from the kitchen. “I fucking heard that.”
“Behave,” Jewel says with a musical laugh. “If you keep being a dick to my man, I'm gonna start watering down your beer.”
“Okay, okay, fine.” Scrapper puts his hands up. “I surrender. You can keep the grumpy old fucker.”
As she clears out, we dig in. It's fucking good.
Mack grunts. “You should stop pissing off Chef. Don't want him thinking we're not worth cooking for.”
“Fine.” Scrapper rolls his eyes then yells, “Sorry, Chef! The eggs are to fucking die for.”
The only reply is an insulted grunt from the kitchen.
Mack looks at me. “You’re quiet today.”
He shared what he talked with Mila about when he got back, and I've been thinking since. “Those fuckers that came after Mila were on the job.”
Scrapper nods. “Yeah, someone paid for that to happen. I don’t really get it. Corruption isn’t anything new, and it would take a fucking miracle to prove that theres anything going on besides plain ol’ incompetence.”
“But it happened, which means we don’t have the full picture. So…” Mack trails off.
“So there’s probably something bigger beneath the surface.” I crunch down on a piece of bacon. “That Mullerby fucker either made the call himself, or put that shit in motion. He’s not gonna be happy with the way it played out. They're gonna come after her again. If not now, then as soon as they realize that Mila isn’t gonna drop it.”
“You think I shoulda warned her off?” Mack shakes his head. “She wouldn’t have listened. We’d have to lock her up. Don’t think that’d go over well.”