Page 2 of Bruiser's Reckoning

We all know my VP’s family is fucked and crazy. His uncle mostly. A while back, he’d used a clubwhore to attempt to kill not just his woman but their triplets. It was fucked-up all that happened, but I remember Bambi saying the name and her brother, Mario, saying he’s the man who was supposed to be purchasing Willow.

Fuck.

Cy hadn’t been able to find much on the guy other than a picture when he first looked into the whole thing. That’s why I figured out who the guy was when Simon mentioned his name. Then he’d talked about getting what belonged to him. I was able to connect the dots.

“Where’s Malice?” I push the question out through gritted teeth. I don’t want to be the one who is the bearer of bad news. It usually means the messenger gets a fist to the face.

Hammer looks between Colt and myself, grimaces, and motions for us to follow him to his office. Malice is already in there, sitting in front of Hammer’s desk, looking over some papers.

“Close the door behind you,” Hammer orders and moves around his desk to take a seat while Malice looks over his shoulder in our direction.

Colt closes the door and comes to stand next to me.

“Now, what did you find out,” Hammer grinds out.

“Simon was meeting with a man named Johnathan.” I pause long enough to meet Malice’s narrowed gaze. “I got a look at him and it’s the guy who supposedly was buying Willow.”

“Motherfucker,” Malice snarls, coming out of his seat and starts pacing the room. “You’re sure? It was him?”

Nodding, Colt and I go over all that we witnessed, including the threat made against Simon’s sister and how that’s what’s being held over the man. It’s because of the girl he’s following directions to protect her. “If we get our hands on this Gwyneth chick, we can pull Simon in and make him talk.”

“I agree,” Colt adds. “He didn’t seem to care as much about the debt or his parents as he did about his sister. She’s important to him.”

“Get Cy to find her and bring her ass in,” Hammer commands. “If you’re right, then we can use her to bring the bastard out of hiding once and for all.”

“I’d suggest the women be put on lockdown,” I advise, thinking about how he’d wanted Simon to separate the women from the men. If the women are on lockdown, they can’t come to harm.

“Agreed,” Hammer grunts. “I’ll be sending a notice out, but I also want to keep this quiet the best we can. No need to worry any of them if we don’t have to.”

I give a curt nod, turn, and leave the office. I need to search for Cy, then I’ve got to get to my mom’s for dinner. She’s got a rule that she’s had since I first moved out when I was eighteen and prospecting for the club. Every week, I’m at her place for dinner. Usually, it’s a Sunday or Monday unless something comes up and I have to reschedule for another night. I don’t miss dinner with my mom. If I even attempted to, she’d have my ass.

For a woman near her seventies, she can be a hard ass. It’s the way she raised my sister and me both.

Leanna is older than me by six years, married a man who died overseas, and never remarried. Leanna buried herself in work and helped our mom out, along with driving me insane. The two of them are known to try and meddle in my life. Leanna seems to think I need a woman so I’ll settle down.

I’m good without the headache that comes with a woman.

A couple years ago, Leanna had been at the clubhouse helping out with a few things when we’d gotten back to the clubhouse with Avery’s nieces and nephews we’d taken out of a bad situation. Those kids immediately became my sister’s world. Even now, she loves them like they were her own.

The nights that I’m at my mom’s for dinner, and they’re all there, it’s always hilarious, and I’m happy for them all.

Still, it doesn’t stop their attempts to get me to settle down.

With a slight shake of my head, I push thoughts of dinner aside and focus again on the task at hand. This Gwyneth chick is a priority. Hopefully, we can get this taken care of quick fast and in a hurry. The last thing we need is more drama around the clubhouse than we’ve already got going on.

CHAPTER TWO

GWYNETH

“I’m so ready to be done with this shift.” I’m not one for complaining, but the past twenty-four hours have been the worst shift I’ve had in a while.

“It’s the damn full moon,” Angie, one of my two partners, remarks with a laugh.

“I think having to deal with the call with the poison ivy on that guy’s junk was the last straw,” Mick grumbles with a shudder. “You two didn’t have to deal with it. I did.”

I give Angie a look while rolling my eyes. Mick can be a bit dramatic when he wants to be. We all can—it comes with the job. If we didn’t, we’d end up letting the job get to us, and in this field, as a paramedic, as well as any first responder job, it can take a toll if you let it.

“Well, one of us could have dealt with it, but you simply drew the short straw on that one.” I snicker, completely bullshitting with Mick, and he knows it.

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