“Sam!” I say in surprise. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Sam flashes me a wide grin. “Just thought I’d come in and check out your shop. I’ve been meaning to come in for a while now, actually. But now I can say I know the owner!”
She’s not alone. Holding her hand is a little boy of about three years old. He’s blond, with enormous blue eyes that seem to take in everything at once. I step out from behind the counter to greet them.
“This is Connor,” she says, looking down at the boy. “Connor, this is Sydney.”
I crouch down so that I’m at eye level with him. “Hi, Connor. Pleased to meet you.” He looks at me solemnly with his wide eyes, and moves to hide behind Sam’s leg. I make a goofy face at him. He hesitates for a moment, sizing me up, then ducks his head shyly and smiles.
“Connor, let’s see if we can find you something yummy to eat in that case over there, okay?” Sam says to him. Connor nods and allows himself to be led to the pastry case, and Sam starts to tell him what each of the items are. Eventually, he points at the chocolate muffins, and I go behind the counter and pull one out for him.
“I’d love a hot chocolate,” Sam says. “And a glass of milk for him.”
I get their drinks and ring her up. Since there’s no one else waiting to be served, I come with them as they settle into a table not far from the counter and decide to sit down with them for a few minutes.
“I didn’t realize you and Hawk had a child,” I say as I drop into a chair.
“Oh, we don’t. I mean,” she laughs, “Connor isn’t his or mine, biologically. We’re his foster parents. For now, anyway.” She takes Connor’s muffin and pulls the paper off for him, then sets it back on his plate. “We’ve applied to adopt him, and we’re just waiting to hear whether our application has been accepted.”
“Wow.” I’m impressed. “Is it looking good for you that they’ll say yes? I hear adoption can be really complicated.”
“It’s a long process,” she agrees. “But in Connor’s case, his biological family is supportive of our taking him. So we’re hoping it will go smoothly.”
I look over at the little boy, who is happily munching on a bit of muffin, his mouth already dark with chocolate. My heart melts just a little.
“He’s a sweetheart, isn’t he?” Sam says, reading my thoughts. “We love him so, so much. Hawk and I started fostering him pretty early on in our relationship, so he’s been with us for almost as long as we’ve been together. I can’t imagine our lives without him.”
“He’s a doll.” My mind tries to wrap itself around Hawk as a dad. It seems so incongruous to imagine a big, tough, tattooed biker as a father. Then again, Jenna told me that she and Ghost have two kids of their own, and apparently Ghost dotes on them even more than she does.
“So.” Sam leans back with a conspiratorial smirk on her face. “Change of subject. You and Brick. Spill.”
I can’t help but snort at her directness. “Um. Spill?” I stammer, stalling for time. “Like, what?”
“You know!” she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. “What’s he like in…” She glances over at Connor. “During… playtime?”
I redden, and try to think how to respond. “He’s really, really good at… playing,” I finally manage.
“I bet,” she smirks. “Has he asked you to be his old lady yet?”
“Old lady?” I wrinkle my nose at the term.
Sam laughs. “It does sound kind of weird, I know. But that’s what the guys in the MC call their girlfriends and wives. It means you’re his, and his alone. Forever. Off limits to all the other men.”
“Oh,” I say, reddening. “No, we haven’t…”
Then it hits me. A memory from our first night at the lake house.
“You’re mine,” he growls. “Say it.”
Does he want me like that? Is that what he meant?
A little shiver runs through me. It’s a little scary to think about, so early on. But it also makes my heart flutter in my chest.
“We haven’t… really gotten that far,” I say uncertainly.
“Really?” she eyes me skeptically. “Because the way he was looking at you at the clubhouse the other night, it sure seems like he’s thinking about it. Hell, Hawk says he’s never even seen Brick show more than a passing interest in any woman, except for… well, you know. Playtime.” Connor looks up at her curiously, then continues eating. “He was clearly introducing you to us for a reason. Bringing you into the family, so to speak.”
The little flutter in my chest grows to a hammering. Because the fact is? As crazy as it seems, I’m hoping she’s right about this. I realize now as I sit here, the last couple of days with Gavin have been the happiest I can ever remember being. By a long shot. I want it to continue. I want us to continue. I want to be his.
“Sam,” I murmur, deciding to ask her a question that’s been on my mind all morning. “Brick was telling me this weekend about some trouble that’s happening with the club. Do you know anything about that?”
She nods. “Yeah. Hawk’s told me. Not the details, of course. The men keep the club business strictly to themselves. But I know from what he’s told me that it concerns a rival club, and I think it has something to do with some of the crimes that have been happening here in Tanner Springs.”
Connor has finished his muffin now, and he climbs down from his chair and comes to sit in Sam’s lap. She pulls him up and grabs a napkin to wipe off his mouth. “It can be a little nerve wracking, when you know something’s up with the club. That’s just a reality of being in this life. But I trust Hawk, and I know he’ll do everything he can to keep his brothers safe, and us out of danger.” She looks at me. “You should trust Brick, too. He’s a good man, and he’ll do anything to protect the people he cares about.”
“I do,” I say, and I realize it’s true. I trust Gavin completely. Ultimately, I’d trust him with my life. I know instinctively that he would throw himself in front of a bullet for me. Hell, he’s been trying to protect me from the very beginning, from threats I didn’t even know about.
For the first time since my father died, I feel like there’s someone out there who accepts me for who I am, and whose only agenda is to try to protect me and keep me safe.
I’m not used to this. My whole life, I’ve been taught that the only person I can rely on is myself. Even my father taught me to keep my cards close to my chest, because in our world, the more someone knows about you, the more they can use that knowledge against you.
I’ve been holding myself back from Gavin. Telling him only half of my story. Partly from fear, and partly from habit. But if things continue down the path I think they’re on — if Gavin bringing me to meet his people means what Sam says it means…
If he feels the same way about me that I’m starting to feel about him…
Then it’s time for me to put my trust in him.
It’s time for me to tell Gavin the whole story of why Syd Banner really left Atlantic City.
30
Brick
The last week, things have really heated up. The MC has been increasing our “patrolling” — making the rounds of area businesses, talking to their owners and trying to catch any criminal activity before it starts. We’re on rotating rounds twenty-four seven and we’re stretched thin as hell. I’ve barely seen Sydney in days, and the only silver lining is, I’m usually too tired for my cock to protest much about it.
All the Lords are assembled in the chapel, for the first time since we decided as a club to go after Black. Tweak’s been working even harder than the rest of us, and has managed to locate the Spiders’ clubhouse and get a video camera system ready so that a group of the men can go down there incognito and set them up. We’re hoping to get as much intel as we need on the Iron Spiders and Black’s activity to make a move within the next week.
“I need some volunteers to go into Spiders territory and case the clubhouse and grounds and place the cameras,” Rock growls. Pretty much all t
he hands go up, including mine. He looks around the table. “Not Brick, or Ghost. I’m saving you two for the actual hit. You’ll be coming with me for that.”
“You sure it makes sense for you to go?” Angel asks, turning to him. “If we send the head of our club to take out the head of their club, we risk weakening ourselves if the hit goes bad. We need our prez in place, strong, no matter what happens. Why don’t I go in your place?”
“He’s got a point, Rock,” Geno rumbles from the other side of the table. “Sending Angel makes more sense. He’s…”
“I go,” Rock says sharply. “This is my fuckin’ war. Black is threatening my club. He’s mine to take out.”
Silence fills the air. No one’s going to challenge Rock on this, though it’s clear from the looks on a few of the brothers’ faces they don’t agree with his decision.
“Sarge, Thorn, Tweak, and Striker,” Rock barks. “You’ll take one of the cages. Set up the cameras, find a place with good cover to watch the clubhouse from. Report back to me once you’ve got everything in place.”
“We gonna set up shifts to watch them?” Thorn asks. “Or let the cameras do their work?”
Rock is about to respond when a tentative knock interrupts him. Gunner glances at me with a frown. All eyes turn to the chapel door. It’s got to be one of the women, and all of them know better than to knock during church. Or ever, for that matter. The chapel is off limits to everyone who isn’t a patched member of the Lords.
Thorn stands and turns the knob, pulling the door open. On the other side is Jewel. She looks nervously around at us, her face pale.
“I’m sorry,” she half-whispers. “The mayor is here. He wants to see you, Rock. He said either you come out right now or you’ll be seeing the inside of a jail cell before the day is through.”
“Goddamnit,” Rock seethes. “All right. Meeting adjourned. For now.” He bangs the gavel on the table and stands. We follow him out of the room, and into the main area of the clubhouse.
Jarred Holloway is standing there with Chief Crup, both of them looking as out of place as nuns in a whore house.
“You damn well better have a warrant,” Rock says in a low, menacing voice as he walks toward them. The rest of us stop and stand in a rough formation behind him.
“We’re not searching your place today, Rock,” Holloway answers. “But I doubt you’re gonna think that’s a good thing when we’re done.”
“What the fuck are you here for, then?”
“Your club’s finally gone too far, Antony,” Crup spits.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Crup lets out a snort of derision. “Okay. We’ll play that game. I don’t suppose your club knows anything about the gas fire at Lloyd’s Automotive.”
“No, afraid we don’t,” Rock answers him. “Is there some reason you came in person to let us know this?”
“Someone who lives in the neighborhood told the police this morning that they saw some guys in leather vests creeping around there last night.” Crup’s eyes narrow in contempt.
“Why the fuck would we set fire to Lloyd’s?” Ghost challenges him.
“Seems pretty obvious to me,” Crup says. “A rival business to your garage, the one legitimate business you have going?”
“Oh, fucking come on,” Angel half-shouts. “Jesus, that’s fucking ridiculous.”
“And this time, you’ve really screwed the pooch,” Holloway continues. “Steve Lloyd’s in the hospital. Second and third degree burns. Got trapped inside trying to put out the fire.”
“Jesus fuck,” Gunner swears under his breath, shaking his head. “Poor fucking Lloyd.”
Gunner went to high school with Steve Lloyd, I know. Hell, they still get together from time to time to go fishing.
“The Lords had nothing to do with that fire, Holloway,” Rock growls. “We don’t shit where we live.”
Holloway snorts. “Why would I believe the word of a criminal, Rock? Especially over the eyewitness testimony of a fine upstanding citizen of Tanner Springs, who said he saw your men at the scene of the crime just before the fire?”
“That’s not possible,” Ghost growls.
“You sure your ‘witness’ isn’t just seeing what he wants to see?” Angel says sardonically.
Holloway shakes his head and continues talking to Rock as though Ghost and Angel haven’t even spoken. “I’m sorry, Rock,” he says in a voice tinged with fake regret, “but the people of this town expect me to do what I was elected to do.” He takes a step forward. “A word to the wise — and I certainly hope you are wise enough to heed it. Shut this club down, or move out of Tanner Springs.” He pauses. “Or we’ll do it for you.”
Without waiting for an answer, Holloway turns and walks toward the exit. Crup follows. When they’re gone, Rock goes into the chapel by himself and slams the door.
“Shit,” mutters Angel. “This is the last fucking thing we need right now.”
I don’t say anything. I know Holloway well enough to know he’s more than capable of trumping up charges that could put enough of us behind bars to force the club out. If anything more happens that can be pinned on the club, I have no doubt he’d act on his threat.
“We need to move now on taking out Black,” Angel says. Next to us, Geno grunts his agreement.
“We can’t afford any mistakes on that front,” I mutter. Angel looks over and meets my eyes. He nods once, and then looks away. We’re both thinking the same thing, I know: he’d be a better choice than Rock as part of the team that goes to do the job.
Geno clears his throat. “I could sure as hell use a smoke,” he says to us. “You two feel like joining me?”
Outside, the three of us light up and stand in silence for a few moments. It seems pretty clear that Geno’s brought us out here for a reason, but it’s his decision to say what he wants to say in his own time. Finally, he takes a long drag on his smoke and tosses it on the ground.
“You know,” he begins, “Rock, and me, and Smiley, we go way back. The three of us are the only original members of the Lords. I’ve known Rock since he was younger than the two of you.”
Angel nods. The three older men are all in their fifties by now. All of them are starting to show their age, though except for Smiley they’re still tough enough to make most men fear them.
“One day,” Geno continues, “you’ll be getting older, and you’ll look back and realize you never saw the time pass. And then across the table, most of your brothers will be young enough to be your sons. And you’ll see they’re the future. And you’re the past.”
Angel glances at me, then at Geno, but doesn’t say anything.
“It takes a big man to admit that,” Geno sighs. “And an even bigger man to admit that one of these days, you’re gonna have to relinquish control of something you built from the ground up.” He fixes his eyes on Angel. “Admit that there’s someone next in line to take your place.” Geno takes another cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lights it. “And sometimes, not wanting to admit things can cloud your judgment.” He takes a puff, blows it out, and then begins to chuckle. “Like last week when I decided I could saw down and remove a tree branch that fell on my roof by myself, instead of hiring someone else to come and do it. Damn near broke my neck.”
“We’re not talking about your tree branch, are we?” Angel says. It’s not really a question.
“Nope,” Geno agrees. “I’ve been noticing the two of you chafing at some of Rock’s decisions lately. And I’m here to say I don’t blame you. But I also want to tell you I know Rock pretty damn well. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s fighting with himself, knowing sooner or later he’s gonna need to step down, but not feeling ready yet.” He looks at Angel. “And he sees you’re ready to step up. You’re gonna be a good, strong president, Angel. We can all see that. Rock included.” He sighs. “But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to accept, when you’re used to being the leader yourself.”
We stay outside for a few m
ore minutes, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Eventually, we head back into the clubhouse, passing Gunner on his way out. He tells us he’s going to the hospital to see Steve and his wife Michelle.
“I don’t know if they’re gonna want to see me,” he says, his face grim. “But I need them to know it wasn’t our club that did this. Even if no one else in town believes it, I want to make sure they do.”
Back inside, Ghost tells us that Rock’s gone upstairs to his apartment. Any further discussion about our hit on Black will wait until tomorrow, when Sarge, Thorn, and the others are back from their run into Spiders territory. Meantime, the other brothers have turned their attention to letting off some steam. From the look of things, there’s gonna be more than a few hung over Lords tomorrow.
Ghost hands me a bottle of beer, but I wave him off and check the time on my phone. It’s just about closing time at the Golden Cup. More than anything right now, I want to see Sydney. I want to take her back to my place and lose myself inside her. I tell Ghost I’ll see him tomorrow and head out to my bike with a smile starting to twitch at the corners of my mouth, in spite of all the shit going on around me. Instead of calling Sydney, I decide I’ll just show up and surprise her. I can already hear her giving me shit about stalking her, but I know she’ll be thrilled.
As I fire up the bike and pull out of the parking lot, my cock is already signaling its approval of my plan. Hell, maybe I’ll give her a repeat of our first time in her office, before I take her back home and fuck her every different way I can think of until the sun comes up.
31
Sydney
Days pass, and just like Gavin warned me, I hardly see him because of whatever club business he’s involved in.
He’s away from Tanner Springs a fair bit, doing what I don’t know. Often, he comes back to town so late that he decides to just sleep at one of the apartments in the clubhouse. He’s good about texting me so on those days I know not expect him, but it’s still hard.
BRICK (Lords of Carnage MC) Page 16