A heavy gloved hand patted him on the arm, and he turned his head to look into Ray’s grin, which promised things that Hunter really didn’t want to hear about. “What did you do?”
Ray gave him a smug smile, looked around, and spat at the graffiti. “You’ll like it. Today is as good as any other to start taking those bitches out.”
There it was. The thing Hunter didn’t want to hear, or be a part of for that matter. In an ideal world, he’d stay neutral, let Ray do his thing, and pretend he didn’t know anything about it. But after living with the Nails for over a month now, they weren’t just anonymous faces anymore. He didn’t want to see them dead, nor did he want to see Ray killing anyone. If things got out of hand, he’d need to step up.
“What? What’s that face?” Ray hissed and pushed Hunter at the wall, stepping closer like a territorial gorilla. “You wanna tell me something, you pussy? I’m not gonna keep putting it off!”
“No.” Hunter pushed him back. He wasn’t a scared little teenager anymore, and he’d take none of Ray’s shit. “It’s just a cold fucking day for revenge.”
“Ha.” Ray hissed and shook his head at Hunter. “For you it’s always too hot, or too cold, or too fucking mellow. I hope you’ll man up, but for now, stay out of that smelly shed. I’m telling you that as family,” said Ray and stormed off.
Hunter watched him with a deepening frown. What did that motherfucker do? He probably pulled some Home Alone shit and set up a trap. Ridiculous, unbelievable, and dangerous as fuck.
He took a deep breath of frosty air and put his hands in his pockets as he walked back into the warm innards of the club. He was torn between loyalty to his fucked-up cousin and trying to fit into his new club. The choice should be obvious, but despite the years of animosity, he and Ray were family. The only family he kept in touch with.
“Hunter!” Priest’s voice drummed behind him, and for a horrible moment, Hunter believed someone had heard the whole conversation between him and Ray, and the president was now coming to deliver his justice. But when he turned around, Priest was approaching him with a smile that looked sinister only because of the man’s vague resemblance to Jack Nicholson.
“Hey, prez. What’s up? Can I be useful?” he asked and gave a nod to Milk in passing.
Priest shrugged. “The shed won’t take itself apart, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. You have a minute?”
“Sure, sure, what is it?” He could only pray that it wasn’t Priest knowing about Ray’s homicidal obsession. Or worse. That Hunter fucked Priest’s daughter.
“I was thinking ... the two of you aren’t from here, and you’re obliged to stay in Detroit. What are your plans for Christmas?”
The question came as such a surprise that Hunter just stared for a moment. “I … You celebrate Christmas?” he blurted out, not sure if it was offensive or not as soon as he said it.
Priest frowned. “Yes. Why?”
“‘Cause Lucky told me you’re a Satanist.”
“Why would that stop me from exchanging presents, putting shiny reindeer in my garden, and stuffing myself with turkey and pie?” Priest chuckled and pinched his brow. “Satanism is more of a philosophy. I believe in no God.”
Hunter frowned, but nodded, remembering what Asty had told him about the different faces of Satanism. “So you don’t believe that Satan is your god?”
Priest leaned against the wall. “That’s crazy. Satan’s just a symbol for me. I make the rules for myself. That’s what it’s all about.”
Hunter could weirdly relate to that. “And your rules are about having Christmas. Okay, I get it.” He smiled but shrugged. “I don’t have anything planned. I’ll just hang out here, I suppose.” Hunter was surprised that Priest even cared to ask.
“There will be the club party for all the families, but Lucky tells me he wants you over for dinner. Would you be up for it?”
Hunter blinked, so surprised he couldn’t find the words for a while. “Lucky wants to invite me? I mean … to Tooth’s house?” He was too bewildered to comprehend it.
Priest crooked his head, and it felt like his intense stare was looking right into Hunter’s mind. “Is that a problem? Should I know of a feud between you and my VP?”
Hunter’s eyes grew wider at the cringe-worthy memory of the homophobic spew between his old club and the Nails. “No, no! I’m good. I’m down with the gays.”
For a moment, he believed he used a non-PC word and would be judged for it, but Priest smiled. “Good. Lucky seems to like you just fine, and he’s overly excited about hosting the family party this year.”
At least if Asty chose to avoid Hunter until then, she’d have to face him at Tooth’s. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. I don’t have other family than Ray in town.” He held out his hand to shake Priest’s.
“Good. Now that’s settled. Let’s get on with the work before everyone gets too full and too drunk out there. The ladies are trying to outdo themselves.”
Hunter smiled and nodded despite cold sweat trailing down his back. Ray and his fuck-knows-what kind of booby-trap. He needed to be around Priest and act if needed. Enough was enough. The longer his uncle was dead, the gladder for it Hunter was.
“Is everyone staying at the bar later?” There was a girl hovering around Hunter, and she was quite good looking, but what he really hoped for was that maybe Asty would show up, too.
“Yes,” said Priest as they made their way back toward the yard with the goat shed. “Even my daughter’s coming. She needs some perking up again.”
“Has she been down after the goat’s death?” Hunter followed Priest, looking around for Ray.
“Yes. She was really protective of him. Maybe you could talk to her at the party, at least a bit? She knows everyone else.”
Hunter swallowed, and Priest’s words sparked a chain of explosions in his brain. Maybe Priest wasn’t as against Asty dating as everyone said? “That would be great. I seem to always miss her in passing. Can I buy her a drink, or is that off limits ‘til she’s twenty-one?”
Priest stopped, and his mouth spread into a too-wide grin. “Don’t take it the wrong way. Talk to her in a friendly way, but hands off. She needs someone different than all of us. She may not look it, but she’s very sensitive.”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah, I’d never … Just friendly.” Just a friendly fuck. That was all. Since Asty didn’t want an actual relationship with him, and she clearly only chose when she’d text him, on her own terms. Two could play that game, since what’s-her-name was following him with her gaze even now. If Asty didn’t want his undivided attention, that girl would get it instead.
“Good. Keep that in mind,” said Priest as they neared the gathering around the shed, and despite the friendly tone, Hunter knew there was a threat behind the president’s smile.
Tooth raised his arm in greeting, but there were crumbs in his dark beard, and his mouth was full as he raised a cup of a steaming beverage closer to his mouth.
“Are you all fattening up for winter?” Priest asked, to the cheerful laughs of his men.
“Tooth doesn’t have to worry, he’s perfect for me,” Lucky said with a wide smile, and the men laughed even harder.
Even Hunter couldn’t help a smile. In his old club, there had been extensive gossip exchanged over a gay VP at the Nails. A shock. An outrage. A disgrace. But when Hunter thought about it, being gay in this setup was actually pretty badass. Tooth just did whatever the fuck he wanted, like a true outlaw would. Just thinking about it made Hunter imagine all the ways in which he wanted to fuck Asty.
Milk stood behind them and patted both Lucky’s and Tooth’s backs. From the red spots on his cheeks and the slight slur in his tone, Hunter judged Milk wasn’t in a condition for building works anymore.
“Aw. Tooth, when’s the wedding?”’
Tooth grunted and pushed Milk back. “Stop touching us. Christ.”
Hunter didn’t pay more attention to the argument, too focused on the shed that wa
s some kind of death trap, and he didn’t know how to warn people about it. Those guys really did seem like a big family, and he didn’t want to see any of them hurt. But by telling them what was about to happen, he’d expose Ray to certain death. His eyes met Ray’s over a cup Ray was holding while he was chatting with Don, the oldest Nail, and he felt so fucking betrayed by being pulled into this against his will. Then again, with knowledge, came the power of actually doing something.
“Right,” said Priest eyeing them all with a skeptical smile. ”You have five minutes to finish, and then we work. Don, come over here,” he said and walked past the fence of the enclosure that at this point was lying on the ground, dismantled. Hunter’s eyes rushed toward Ray just in time to see Don leave Ray alone on the other side of the shed. His pulse numbed any other sounds, and everything seemed to slow down as Hunter desperately tried to get a hint of what was about to happen and when.
“I can help as well,” Hunter offered and followed them not looking back at Ray. He didn’t want to see the venom spilling out of his cousin's eyes. His own flesh and blood, yet such a despicable human being.
Priest looked back and nodded before pushing the door and ducking inside. A sound similar to a witch’s laughter tore through the air, and the shed’s side started going down with a roar of wood and metal. All the voices around Hunter stilled, but as his nose picked up the first whiff of dust overpowering the smell left by the goat, he roared and grabbed Priest by the arm, pulling with all his strength.
Priest yelled and fell back at Hunter, and they both tumbled to the ground, but it was hard to say if they were safe in the cloud of dust around them. Ray must have unhinged the construction of the shed for a heavy wooden beam to fall down on whoever was the first to come in. What if it had been Asty, arriving to pay her last respects? Fury made Hunter’s blood boil, but he had to focus on the topic at hand first.
“Priest? Are you fine?” he asked through all the voices that exploded around them. Everyone had the same question on their minds, but it all became clear when Priest’s wide, still shocked eyes turned toward the shed. His leg was partially stuck underneath the pile of wood, and he pulled, without much effect, as his face paled.
“Fuck. Oh, fuck,” hissed Tooth and rushed to pull on the beam lying on top of the debris, but it only twitched even as the VP clearly put all his strength into the upward yank.
Hunter crawled out from under Priest with a huff and joined Tooth in the effort, ignoring the splinters getting into his hands and the crack in his back. “Hang in there, we’ll get this thing up.” He groaned, but even with Tooth, it was hard to lift the damn thing, and they didn’t want to cause more damage if the beam slipped and injured Priest further.
Just as Hunter was getting frantic, Milk arrived at his side, Prince grabbed the wood next to Tooth, and Lucky kneeled next to Priest to help him quickly pull out. Tooth did a quick countdown, and with their combined effort, they lifted the beam. Hunter got hot from the strain, and when he glanced over the red faces around him, for the first time, he felt like he was actually one of the Coffin Nails.
They dropped the beam, sending dust and tiny debris in the air, but the moment it was done, everyone gathered around Priest, and Tooth was already pulling off his president’s boot to check for damage. Amidst the chaos and shouting, Hunter’s gaze met Ray’s face, purple with barely withheld fury. Hunter sneered in answer and kneeled by Priest, the man who invited him over for Christmas.
*
It was clear Priest wouldn’t be dying. His leg had two cuts and horrible bruises, but it wasn’t swelling, and he could walk, so he even refrained from consulting their on-call doctor. It was all thanks to thick leather boots with padding and Hunter’s quick reflexes. The enthusiasm of his new club brothers was so overwhelming he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Even Tooth actually patted him on the back, and he ended up getting a hug from Lucky. The old ladies took him into the lounge and fed him, claiming he needed to calm down, but he thought they were only curious about the member-slash-hostage who only recently joined the ranks.
He managed to sneak out for a breather to his room. The place wasn’t much, but he had a few shelves, a bed, and his own bathroom. He was okay with that, as he didn’t have much and didn’t even unpack most of his belongings, which were still stacked in cardboard boxes by the window. What he didn’t like was the lack of privacy and the inability to escape the parties downstairs, even if he wished to.
He sat down on his bed and put his face in his hands, reliving the moment of the catastrophe. Ray was such an idiot. The Nails would surely try to investigate what went wrong with the shed, and everything would point to the two of them. Not to mention that Hunter simply didn’t want to follow Ray’s crazy plans, and at this point, he wanted to distance himself from him as much as possible.
The door burst open, and Hunter’s heart went staccato. He knew who it was before Ray even spoke.
“You piece of shit.” He grabbed the front of Hunter’s shirt and yanked him up so they were eye to eye. The fury lurking in Ray’s eyes made him look more like a demon than anything Hunter had ever seen.
Hunter spread his arms to the sides. “Me? Did you even consider that anyone could have walked in there? Milk’s wife brought their kids today, shithead.”
Ray sneered and knocked Hunter on the bed with a surprise punch in the gut. “It wasn’t children you were protecting.”
“No, it wasn’t. We’re both Nails now, or have you forgotten the patches on your back? I was protecting my prez, and I’m done with your bullshit. The past is the past.” He got up and stood on the other side of the bed, unwilling to escalate this argument into a full-on fight.
Ray gave a dark laugh and pushed back his hair, wiping sweat from his forehead. “You turned into a fag now that you’re afraid of avenging your own blood? You already forgot who took care of your skinny ass when your family turned their backs on you?”
“You always gonna bring that up? I consider that debt paid after I lied for you in court and took a knife in the ribs for Head. I’m warning you.”
Ray ducked under the bed, and Hunter’s heart froze when the bastard pulled out his cello, vulnerable in its soft case. He rolled over the mattress and yanked it back, successfully retrieving the instrument from a surprised Ray. There were fucking limits. He was not the boy who would let Ray walk all over him anymore.
Hunter put the instrument on the bed, and turning back to Ray, he put his full weight behind the punch he planted on Ray’s cheek. He wished he hadn’t taken off his rings when he had pulled out the splinters.
Ray growled and tried to get his hands on Hunter’s neck but ended up digging into Hunter’s clothes. They both stumbled at the wall, locked in a chaotic hold that wasn’t going anywhere. Ray tried to kick Hunter’s legs from under him, but Hunter stepped on his foot and tumbled them both down to the floor.
“Don’t fucking dare touch my stuff!” Hunter was heaving as he gritted his teeth and worked his elbow between Ray’s ribs.
Ray spat into Hunter’s face and headbutted him with so much power, Hunter saw stars.
“I know you broke our deal about the satanic bitch.”
“What?” For a moment, Hunter wasn’t sure if he was comprehending what Ray said. He stilled over Ray and squinted, but Ray pushed him back and stumbled to his feet, wheezing.
“You did. But that’s all right, you pussy. I had her suck me off.”
Hunter got up, staring at Ray without blinking. “You’re lying.”
“No,” said Ray, and a smile returned to his face. “She’s very greedy for cum. Knelt down practically without asking. You better think twice where your loyalties lie.”
Anger blurred Hunter’s vision, flooding it with images he didn’t want to see. Could this be why she stopped returning his calls? She was hanging out with Ray? He reached back between the books on his shelf where he kept a gun, and he pulled it out, taking off the safety.
“I am done with you,” he said and p
ointed the barrel at Ray with so much rage he could hardly contain it. “Get the fuck out.”
Ray stared at the gun and slowly pushed down the door handle, but his nasty eyes never left Hunter’s face. “She’ll be here tonight. Feel free to get your sloppy seconds,” he said and left.
“Fuck!” Hunter screamed out, all too aware Ray must have heard him in the corridor. He quickly put the safety back on the gun. His nerves were so thin he could use them as strings for his cello.
Sensitive? Asty? He’d thought so too until this fucking news flash from Ray. Maybe that was why she didn’t want a relationship in the first place? Because she wanted to be free to fuck Ray behind his back? Fucking slut. Sure, he didn’t know shit about relationships, but he was willing to give it a shot. It looked like he wasn’t interesting enough for a wild girl like her. Why did he even bother? He was twenty-five and didn’t need this kind of baggage in his life. He’d been fucking around until now, and he was just fine.
He put away the gun and sat down on the bed with a huff. He’d severed his ties with the last person in his family who wanted to keep in touch, and he was stuck in a club he didn’t even truly feel part of. As he looked around the bare walls of his small room, he’d never felt lonelier in his life.
Asty
Asty was horrified to find out her dad had been in danger, and no amount of chants and spells could make her feel better. Even the cards refused to work with her somehow, but in the end, she begrudgingly got ready and drove to the club. She was torn between the need to see Dad and the unwillingness to participate in the chaos of a party. Most of all, Ray and Hunter would be there, and she didn’t want to see either of them, even if Hunter had saved her father and deserved some gratitude
The clubhouse was bursting with music by the time she arrived, and she lingered outside, touching her scooter and prolonging the inevitable entry. During the weeks since she had found out she was pregnant, she had begun noticing the inevitable effects of her new condition. She didn’t suffer much from morning sickness, which was what she’d feared the most, but she was getting tired much easier than usual, and dragging herself to a loud room full of people felt like an unwanted chore, even if she slept until very late.
Split - Coffin Nails MC (Contemporary New Adult Erotic Dark Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 7) Page 11