Page 28 of Never Wed an Outlaw

Fuck no,I wanted to say.That's the real tragedy.

I'd already landed the club in a world of shit for no good reason, so what was one more lie? Smiling, I put my hands on the desk and leaned in.

“Just between you and me, yeah, we are. Firefly's got every reason in the world to be pissed because she's the first one in a year I had more than once. Every fuckin' night, Skinny boy. Every damned morning. I'd take that woman on a silver platter, and I don't just mean cause she's rich. Hannah's goddamnedfine.Brains, beauty, sass, and legs that go the whole nine yards. Shame she's gotta share blood with a brother, and my Enforcer, no less.”

“Don't need the gritty details. I just wanted to hear it from the source to clear things up. Fuck.” He buried his face in his hands, smoothing them back through his short hair, that scar along his cheek glistening as his lip curled. “Be careful, brother. We can't let these tensions chew us the fuck up when we're about to hit the Deads.”

“Tell me something I don't know, boy. Ain't just my habits screwing us up, though mine are in the spotlight.”

“I know. I'm worried about Joker, Prez. The last thing that crazy sonofabitch needed was a girl and a kid to worry about. He hasn't been the same since his brother bit it in that accident. This might push his sorry ass over the edge.”

Accident? Fuck me.

I tried not to snort. Sometimes, I forgot the big lie I'd laid on the club, and had to catch myself.

If only they knew the truth. Joker's brother, Piece, had been hacked to pieces and burned. Everything except his head, propped up in their grandaddy's house, ready to look lifelessly at his twin brother the second Joker walked in.

Tore my fuckin' heart out, doing what was best for the club. One thing was for sure – he was right about Joker coming dangerously close to the edge.

If he ever leapt off it, and took my ass with him, exposing my dirty lie...it'd probably mean my gavel. Maybe my own fuckin' patch.

“You're worrying too much, Skin,” I growled, grabbing him by the wrist and giving it a squeeze. “Let me take care of this shit. That's my job, long as I'm wearing this thing.” I thumped my chest with one fist, just over my PRESIDENT patch.

Long as I kept wearing it, which wouldn't be forever if shit really spun away from me.

“You're right, Dust. Ain't the first time we've had our issues in this MC. Firefly's a fucking hot head, but he'll see reason soon enough. Long as you don't leave his sis' heart in shambles, we'll get through this, and back to everything we really ought to focus on.”

“That's what I want to hear, Skinny boy,” I said, standing up and lighting my pipe for a quick puff. “Get your ass out of here at a decent time tonight, and bring Meg's, too. Your wedding's coming up in a few more weeks, and you both need the rest. Don't fight me on it.”

“Okay,” he said, smiling, his dark eyes warming. “Should I round up a prospect for your ride home?”

“I'll do that myself. You relax.” Telling him to take a load off wasn't much consolation, since I'd just lied several times over.

I stood behind the clubhouse, waiting for my ride. By the time we got back, I'd be sober enough to ride. Good thing, too, because I'd gotten sick and fuckin' tired of all these lies.

When a man bullshits enough, it sticks in his throat, rots his heart from the inside-out like a slow moving cancer.

My teeth clenched, and I practically heard my wicked old man whispering in my ear.Everybody's gonna find out sooner or later, Dusty. Least when you're thrown out of your own club like the lying fuckin' prick you are, we'll have something in common.

We'll both be dead to everybody who ever mattered.

I shook my head, wondering how much more I'd have to drink tonight to make him shut the fuck up. Goddamn, this stress. Made me almost as psycho as Joker, one evil day at a time.

Early lied to me and plenty of other brothers during the old days in the club. He'd skimmed extra money for himself, and bullshitted every man who'd been Treasurer before Skin about new money coming into the coffers. He'd gone to his grave, knowing we were running dry, and the entire MC would be up shit creek soon.

Fuck him, and fuck this.

My lie was meant to save their lives. Wasn't just there tokeep things easy, or keep my free supply of perfect pussy flowing.

That meant something, didn't it?

Who the hell knew anymore. When the prospect motioned me over to his truck, a new guy named Barb, I got in and didn't say a word.

No more booze tonight. It'd only leave me with a hangover, and wouldn't repel my old man's pissed off ghost forever. Never had, and I should've figured it out a long time ago.

Luckily, I had something better in mind to steal a little truth. I'd make one of the lies I told real, or I'd lose my balls trying.

7

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