Page 42 of Vapor's Blaze

There is a younger man standing there with a tray. He’s not a prospect though. I tilt my head upwards and gaze at him because he looks so much like Vapor that it takes my breath away. It slowly dawns on me that it must be his brother, he’d told me they were twins, but not identical.

“Did Vapor send you with food.”

“I’m not a prospect,” he says testily.

I guess that around the Savage Legion’s clubhouse only prospects serve food.

“Look, if you don’t want to serve me food, go on back to wherever you came from. I can probably miss a meal or two without passing out.”

He snorts a laugh. “Yeah, you’re just my brother’s kind of woman. Smart and sassy.”

Trying not to rile up his brother, I respond politely, “I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.”

“Good call,” he says wryly.

When he moves forward carrying the tray, I hold out one hand. “Vapor said no one can come into my room but him.”

The man gives me an amused look and comes in anyway. “I think that rule is for guys who aren’t his actual brother.”

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense.”

He drops the large tray down on the table. It’s covered with a white cloth. He gestures to it with one hand. “I don’t know what you wanted to eat, so I brought a bit of everything.”

“Thank you. I don’t know if I can eat right now, anyway. I’m too worried about my friend.”

“Gee, you must really dig old men.”

“He’s been like a second father to me and he’s a really nice human being.”

“I’m sure he is in your mind. In my mind, he came here with the Hellfire Hounds and tried to kill us and set our clubhouse on fire. I’m not seeing him through the same rose-tinted glasses that you are.”

“He runs the tire shop on our club property. Jamus is normally non-violent. The thing is that every time my grandfather calls for all boots on the ground everyone has to go, whether or not they want to. If they don’t, he uses the bullwhip on them. Jamus is too old to be bullwhipped.”

“Fucking hell, I knew that old man was crazy, but that’s some seriously antiquated thinking there. Maybe it’s time for Jamus to retire from club life. Have you ever had that conversation with him?”

“I tried to once. He cursed me up one wall and down the other. Club life is all he’s ever known. The Hounds are his family, he’s got no one.”

“How about if he could go wherever you end up? Do you think he would want the two of you to stay together?”

“Well, I’d absolutely love it. I don’t know about Jamus. He might not be interested in anything like that.”

“One day soon, your asshole grandfather is going to call him out for some run of the mill act of violence and he’s not going to come home. What are you going to do then?”

I drop down onto the sofa, unable to fathom losing him like I have so many others. “I would be heartbroken.”

“Yeah, well we all gotta die sometime, right?”

“That’s a really awful thing to say to me in this situation. Brother or not, I think you should leave.”

Instead of leaving, he takes a step closer and stares at me. “Who did you really come here for, Jamus or my brother? Tell the truth.”

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“I want to know if you if you’re quite stupid enough to walk into this clubhouse today and make some insane attempt to rescue a member of the Hellfire Hounds MC, knowing damn good and well that he’s our mortal enemy who tried to burn down our clubhouse with us still in it. Vapor and Siege might buy your little story, but me? Not a bit. You don’t grow up in an MC like the Hounds and not get tainted.”

“When you put it that way it does sound a bit insane.”

“So, you’re not here for my fucking brother at all, are you?”

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