Page 16 of A Twist of Fate

“Seriously? You’d do that?”

“Of course I would, G! You’re family here, honey.”

“That means a lot, Kane!”

I nodded and pulled her away from the window. “So, things are getting serious with the boy then?”

She laughed. “Boy? He’s only a couple years younger than you.”

I grinned down at her. “Couple of years makes a big difference, G.” Gretchen laughed at my playful tone, and mission accomplished because she also stopped shaking. Whether she knew it or not, part of me taking care of the problem was going to mean having a little talk with T-Bone and his crew about their fucking priorities. I was seriously beginning to think those assholes were all gay for the way they prioritized one another over the women in their lives. I didn’t care if they were smokin’ pole in the back room though, if one of my girls was in trouble, they were damn sure gonna need to look out for her. To hell with this half-assed bullshit because some dickwad wanted his favorite cum-dumpster around. If he couldn’t take better care of G, I’d do it for him, and the fucker wouldn’t be walking away with the girl if it came to that.

“Kane,” she whispered, no doubt sensing the anger that had boiled to the surface while thinking about the bikers who had no problem stealing my girls but every problem taking care of them. “Someone else’s crazy isn’t Toby’s fault.”

“I know that, but if he isn’t doing everything in his power to get that bitch leashed and out of your lives for good, that is his problem. Don’t you worry though, G. I’ll see that shit gets handled this time, okay?”

“You’re not a brother though,” she reminded me.

Nope. I wasn’t, but it sure as fuck looked like I was about to have to become one like Zeke and I had discussed a while back. “Trust me sweetheart, when I point out that they’re failing to care for one of their real women again, and choosing the whores over the real women, I think someone will get shit done. Seems T-Bone’s father would have a lot more to say about shit like that considering his history with them.”

“I guess. I don’t think Toby’s told him, exactly. He’s brought it up to some of the other men.”

“Gretchen, I don’t want you to worry. All that fear and anxiety that had you shaking while watching that car earlier?” I questioned while her wide, azure blue eyes stared up at me. “That’s not okay, G.”

“I just don’t want to put any more stress on Toby right before we tell his family. We have a lot to…” she cut herself off as Zeke walked back up the aisle toward us.

“Everything okay over here?”

“Yeah, I was just about to leave,” Gretchen told him.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” I told her.

I walked her there and watched as she pulled away. Zeke came up beside me as I continued to stand there and watch both Gretchen’s car and the green Jetta that was still parked across the street. “You want to tell me why you’re staring off into the sunset after a taken woman?”

I tipped my head to the side. “The green Jetta parked there belongs to one of the club’s whores who has been following her and T-Bone around. It’s been parked there all day and that’s what had G on edge.”

“When are those assholes going to get that shit under control?”

I shrugged and turned to look at him. “Zeke, we’re going to have to intervene here. G is family. She says this has been ongoing for a quite a while now, and even though Toby’s brought it up to some of the brothers, they insisted the whore be kept around for her skills. Obviously, they aren’t doing enough.”

Zeke nodded in agreement. “I have a buddy on the force. I’ll grab the plates and put in a call.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. It’s looking like you need to get your ass ingrained with that damn club after all.”

I hung my head then. “I know it.”

Zeke chuckled and slapped me on the back. “Come on, I’ll buy you a drink tonight. You’re going to need to figure out how to look a little more enthusiastic about joining or they’re going to see right the fuck through you.”

“Know that too,” I mumbled. “Give me tonight to be a brooding, sad-sack motherfucker. Tomorrow I’ll be shittin’ biker rainbows, okay?”

Zeke’s laughter actually helped lighten my mood about as we walked further down the street. “I’m shooting Sully a text. He can close up tonight.”

We were two beers deep at the little corner bar down the street from the parlor when Zeke finally brought up the elephant that had been weighing me down. “So, you’re 0-for-2 with the shop girls now, huh?”

“What?”

“Come on man, no need to play games with me. I have eyes. Hell, everyone in the shop cringed daily as you mooned over Ever while Gretchen was busy being so hung up on you, she forgot to do her job half the time.”

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