by Wilder, L.
“They got here a few minutes ago. They’re meeting with Viper and the others now.”
She nodded. “Good. He’ll know what to do about all this.”
“I’m really sorry you got pulled into this, Mother. If I had known David would pull something like this—”
“There’s no reason for you to apologize, August,” she interrupted. “None of this is your fault.”
“Of course it’s my fault. I’m the one who brought David into our lives. This is all my fault, and I hate myself for it.”
“August …”
“Don’t, Mom. I’m just frustrated.” I let out a deep breath. “I’m going back across the hall to wait for Cade. Let me know if you need me.”
I stepped out of her room, carefully closing the door behind me, then walked to my room. There was no sign of Cade, so I turned on the TV and laid across the bed. I felt so useless lying there, flipping through the channels. I wanted to do something to help resolve the situation with David and the men he’d sent after me, but there was nothing I could do. Gus had made it clear that he didn’t want me involved any more than I already was, so I had no choice but to wait. I went back and forth from Mom’s room to mine, doing my best to entertain Harper, but with each hour that passed, it was becoming more and more difficult. She was hungry and irritable, and so was I. Just as things were starting to get unbearable, Cade appeared with several large shopping bags filled with clothes and toiletries. When he placed them on the bed, I asked, “What’s all this?”
“I got a few things. It’s not much, but I thought it might help get us through the next couple of days.”
I looked into the bags and was surprised to see that he’d bought clothes for all of us, and from what I could tell, he’d gotten all of our sizes right. “How did you do all this?”
“I had a little help, besides it’s just a couple of pairs of jeans and t-shirts.”
“Well, thank you, Cade. It was very sweet of you.”
“No problem.” His expression grew serious as he asked, “Did you happen to bring your cell phone with you?”
“I’m not sure.” I reached for my purse, and after I searched for several minutes, I looked back to him and said, “I must’ve left it at the house.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want anyone to be able to track it. You’ll need to make sure your mother doesn’t have hers either.” He reached into one of the bags and pulled out two burner cell phones. “These are for you and Samantha. Use them if you need to call me. I’ve already added your number, Samantha’s, Gus’s, and mine to each of them.”
“Okay.”
He took the bag that belonged to him, then started for the door. “I’ll be back in a minute. I’m going to put these away, and then we can head down to the kitchen. They’ve got dinner ready for us.”
“Okay. I’ll let Mom know.”
When he walked out, I went across the hall to Mom’s room. She and Harper were sitting on the bed playing with a deck of cards when I asked, “Do you have your cell phone with you?”
“No. I left it in my car. Why?”
“Cade wanted us both to use these.” As I handed her the burner, I told her, “They already have our numbers added to them.”
“Oh, okay.”
“And he wanted me to let you know that dinner’s ready.”
Harper jumped up and said, “I wanna eat.”
“Me, too. Cade will be here in a second to take us down to the kitchen.” When I looked over to Mom, I noticed she didn’t seem as excited about the idea. “Is something wrong?”
“No, I’m fine. I think … I’ll just grab a bite to eat later. You two go ahead with Cade.”
“Mom … you haven’t eaten anything all day.” I could tell from her expression there was a reason behind her lack of appetite. “Is this because of Gus?”
“It’s been a long time, August. I’m not sure I’m ready to see him.”
“We’re going to be here several days, Mom. You can’t just hide out in this room the entire time.” I reached for her arm and gave her a gentle tug. “Come on. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” she mumbled under her breath.
Cade came and led us all down to the kitchen, and just like he’d promised, Viper and his brothers had fixed a big meal for us. They were all gathered around the table talking with Gus and the brothers he’d brought from Memphis. We followed Cade over to the table and sat down in the empty chairs next to Shadow. They each took a moment to greet us, then everyone continued talking and eating, except Gus. From the second my mother sat down, he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. Eventually, Mom broke his silence by saying, “It’s good to see you, Gus.”
His eyes were still locked on hers as he replied, “Good to see you too, Samantha.”
“I really appreciate everything you and the guys have done to help August.”
“Glad we could help.”
Her voice was filled with uncertainty as she suggested, “Maybe we could talk later … catch up on old times.”
“Oh, we’ll definitely be doing that. Sooner than later.”
There was something about his tone that sent a chill down my spine, making me wonder if Mom was right to be nervous about seeing him.
CHAPTER 11
Gunner
It had been a long day, and it had taken its toll on all of us, so as soon as we were finished eating, I walked the girls back to their rooms. When we got to August’s door, I was surprised when Harper turned to her mother and said, “I wanna stay wit Gammy.”
“Harper, Gammy’s tired and needs to get some sleep.”
“It’s fine with me, August. I’d love to have her stay with me, but only if it’s okay with you.”
“Pweez, Momma,” Harper pleaded.
“Okay, sweetie. You can sleep with Gammy, but I want you to be a good girl and get some sleep. No staying up late watching cartoons.”
“Kay.”
August knelt down and gave Harper a hug and kiss as she said, “Good night, sweetheart. I love you.”
“Wov you too, Momma.”
Samantha took her by the hand and led her into the other room. Before she closed the door, she told August, “Obviously, you know where I am if you need me.”
“Same here.”
When the door closed, August and I were left standing alone in the hallway. I wanted to grab her up, carry her to my room, and spend the night making love to her, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, as disappointment flashed through her eyes.
Once she’d gone into her room, I headed to my own, quickly closing the door behind me. After I got undressed and climbed in the bed, I tried to fall asleep, but as soon as I closed my eyes, my mind drifted to August. It wasn’t something new. Lately, it seemed like she was always on my mind for one reason or another. I couldn’t help myself. Over the past few days, I’d enjoyed the times I’d spent with her, getting to know her and seeing what made her tick, and I wanted more of it. I glanced over at the bathroom door that connected her room to mine, and I had to fight the urge to go to her. Silently cursing myself, I turned over and tried once again to fall asleep. I had no idea how long I’d been lying there when I heard the bathroom door ease open and the soft sound of footsteps coming towards the bed. When I rolled over, I found August standing at the edge of the bed. She looked absolutely stunning as she stood there staring down at me. “I’m sorry to wake you, but …”
I eased up on the bed and told her, “I wasn’t asleep yet. You okay?”
“No, not really,” she confessed. “I just don’t want to be alone right now. Do you mind if I lie down with you for a while?”
“Of course not.” I moved over and pulled the covers back. Once she’d made herself comfortable, I asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I just want you to hold me. Can you do that?”
“Yea
h, I can definitely do that.”
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. We lay there for several minutes, silently lost in our own thoughts, before she said, “The Sinners seem like nice guys and their clubhouse is pretty decent, too, but for some reason, I liked it better at yours.”
“You did?”
“Um-hmm. I felt safe there. Like I do when I’m at home.” She paused for a minute, then said, “I’m not sure I’ll ever feel like that again.”
“You will. I’ll make sure of it.”
She nestled a little closer, then stilled. It wasn’t long before she fell fast asleep. For the first time that day, I felt the tension in my muscles subside, and as I lay there listening to the soothing sound of her breathing, everything felt right in the world. I knew it was crazy, especially considering how long I’d known her, but at that moment, I realized I wanted more than one night with August. I wanted a lifetime full of them. There was only one way that was ever going to happen. I had to talk to Gus. It was time for him to know that I was falling for his daughter, and I had no idea how I was going to tell him. I must’ve thought of a hundred different ways as I finally drifted off to sleep.
I woke up the next morning in the bed alone. I got up and showered, and once I was dressed, I went to check on August and Harper. When I knocked on the door, Harper answered with a big smile on her face. “Good morning, sweet pea.”
“Mawn-in.”
August came up behind her and said, “Hey.”
“Hey. You sleep okay last night?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“Good. Glad to hear that. How about some breakfast?”
“Breakfast would be great. Let me check with Mom and see if she wants to go with us.”
Harper and I followed her across the hall, and once we’d gotten Samantha, we headed down to the kitchen for a bite to eat. We’d just entered the room when Gus came over to me and ordered, “Need you down in the conference room.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
When I turned to August, she motioned for me to go on with Gus. “Go. We’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“I think I can handle getting a bowl of cereal on my own,” she scoffed. “Once we’re done, we’ll go back down to the rooms and wait for you.”
Before I could respond, Hawk came up behind us and said, “I’ll keep an eye on them. As soon as they’re done eating, I’ll take them to the family room. Axel’s kids are in there watching TV and playing video games. I’m sure they’d enjoy some company.”
“That sounds great. I know Harper will love that.” August smiled as she said, “Thank you so much.”
While it was a nice enough offer, I didn’t like the way Hawk was eyeballing August. It was clear from the way his eyes slowly skirted over her that he wasn’t just being friendly to his guest. He was interested in her. I wanted to set him straight, tell him to back the fuck off, but I couldn’t say shit—not until I had the conversation with Gus. Until then, I couldn’t do a damn thing. I just had to swallow my pride and watch as he winked at her and said, “No problem, doll.”
“I’ll come check on you when I’m done meeting with Gus.”
“Take your time. We’ll be fine.”
Knowing Gus was waiting for me, I turned and started towards the conference room. When I walked in, Gus was sitting at the table with Riggs, Murphy, Shadow, Blaze, T-Bone, and Gauge. It was strange not seeing Moose sitting there with my brothers, but he’d stayed behind with several brothers and prospects to keep an eye on things at the clubhouse. As soon as I sat down, Gus said, “I wanted a chance for us to speak alone before we meet with Viper and his brothers. I know I’m asking a lot having you boys come all the way here to tend to a problem that isn’t yours, but I wouldn’t ask if it didn’t mean something to me. I can’t tell you why … at least not yet, but I’m asking you to give me one-hundred percent on this.”
“Always,” Blaze replied. “Whatever you need us to do. You know that.”
“We’re gonna need to be careful when it comes to resolving this situation with Polito. We want as little blowback as possible, and that shit isn’t going to be easy, not when we’re dealing with the Italian mafia.”
“I say we kill every last one of those motherfuckers and be done with this shit once and for all,” Murphy growled. “Then, we don’t gotta worry about any blowback.”
“I second that,” I said and looked over to Gus. “If we don’t wipe these guys out, they’re just gonna keep coming back. And that goes for that piece of shit, David, too.”
“I agree with you there, but we can’t take out the mayor of a city like Nashville without drawing too much attention.”
“Then, we find another way to take him down,” I replied. “Make the douchebag wish he was fucking dead.”
“We’ll get to David, you can count on that. But for now, we need to focus on the immediate threat and that’s Polito.” Gus turned to Riggs and asked, “What about those properties he owns? Do you still have them?”
“Yeah. They’re on a file on my laptop. They’re four in all—a house, a small office building, and two warehouses,” Riggs answered. “They were purchased under a fake company name, but with some digging I was able to connect them all to Sal Carbone.”
“Good. We’re going to need to get eyes on every one of those locations. Viper’s crew can help with that.” He thought for a moment, then said, “We need a headcount of all the men he has on his payroll. I want to be able to track Polito’s every move.”
“I’ll get with Hammer and see what we can get set up.”
“Good.” Hammer was the Sinners’ computer whiz. While he wasn’t nearly as savvy as Riggs, he’d definitely be able to help Riggs with anything that needed to be done. “We brought artillery from back home, but if we need more, Viper will help us out.”
“When you planning on us meeting with them?”
“I told Viper to give us ten minutes, so they should be here soon.”
Moments later, we heard them coming down the hall. Once they arrived, Viper took his position at the head of the table with his brothers filing in around us. Gus thanked Viper once again for taking us in and helping us deal with Polito.
We spent the next few hours trying to hash out a plan to take down Polito and his crew. With all the different thoughts and opinions from the Sinners’ as well as our own, it took us longer than expected to agree on how to get eyes on our target. Riggs and Hammer would try to hack into their security systems and infiltrate their cameras, enabling us to see inside. Since we had no idea how many men Polito had working for him, we’d have to set up cameras at all the properties that he owned. It was the only way to be sure that all areas were covered and every one of his men were accounted for at all times. Riggs would also try to hack into Polito’s cell phone, so we’d be able to track his movements.
A strong plan was starting to unfold, but we couldn’t move forward until Riggs and Hammer got the cameras up and working. Knowing we were all waiting on him, Riggs got straight to the task at hand while the rest of us did what we could to prepare for war. I helped Shadow and Murphy go through all the weapons and ammunition we’d brought from home while Viper’s guys went through theirs. Once we’d done all we could for the day, we met for dinner, then headed into the bar for a drink. I was sitting at the bar with Gus, T-Bone, and Murphy. It was after nine, and Harper was already down for the night. I knew August needed some time out of that room, so I arranged for one of the Sinners’ girls to keep an eye on Harper while she slept. Gus was on his third shot of Jägermeister, and he hadn’t taken his eyes off of Samantha since she walked through the door with August. Without directing his attention at any one of us, he mumbled, “How is it possible that after twenty-five fucking years, she can still get to me? That shit doesn’t seem right.”
“That’s a woman for ya,” T-Bone scoffed as he took another shot. “Always fucking with your head.”
“You reckon they know what they�
�re doing to us?” Gus asked. “’Cause if they do, that’s even more fucked up.”
“I think some do, but the good ones … the good ones have no idea.” I glanced over at August, and my entire body tensed when I saw that Hawk was standing next to her. They were talking, and even though I had no idea what was being said, I could tell from his expression that he was trying to make a move on her. Anger surged through me as I sat there staring at him. “But that only makes it that much harder.”
“You’re right about that shit.” Gus turned and looked at me. When he noticed that I was glaring at Hawk and August, he said, “Fuck me. I’ve seen that look before.”
“Huh?” I quickly turned my attention back to him, and that’s when I realized he was talking about me. “Prez, I’ve been meaning to talk you about her, but—”
“Knowing what you know, you gotta have balls to go there,” he growled.
“Not like that … You gotta know, I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I explained. “Hell, I tried to fight it the best I could, but she got to me. Got under my skin like no woman ever has. The kid, too.”
“I trusted you.”
“I know you did, and I wouldn’t do anything to fuck that up,” I tried to assure him. “I care about her, Gus. More than I even realized.”
“Fuck, Gunner. I got too fucking much to deal with right now. I don’t need this shit, too.”
“I get that. I wish I could tell you that I would walk away if that’s what you wanted, but I just can’t do that.” I glanced back over at August, and my chest tightened when I found her staring back at me. She looked so fucking beautiful, with her long dark hair down around her shoulders, and seeing her in those fucking jeans made my entire body ache with need. As she stood there gazing at me, her lips curled into a sexy smile. I’d never seen a more beautiful sight until that ass-fucker, Hawk, said something to her, drawing her attention back over to him.
“She’ll end up breaking your heart.” Gus warned. “The good ones always do.”