Page 75 of The Sentinels

I laid my bike down and hurried to the truck as it came to a jerky stop. Hook was groaning in pain and clutching at his wound. It was a minor injury, but I was savagely happy to see the amount of blood that was now dripping down onto his clothes. I yanked the door open and reached for him, grabbing a hold of his shirt, recognizing him from the video.

"You're a fucking dead man," I snarled into his ashen face, before tossing him over to the passenger side of the truck. He made an attempt to fight back, but unlike a lot of ex-cons, he hadn't bulked up in prison. He appeared years older than he probably was, his frame thin. I hit him mercilessly a few times and then climbed in and slammed the door. "Toss my bike in the back and follow me to my place," I snarled to my brothers. They backed away as I shifted gears. As soon as my bike was loaded, I peeled out.

"Try anything and I'll gut you right here," I snarled, shooting him a glare.

"You're gonna kill me anyway." He could barely talk.

"How do you know we don’t just want to talk?" I almost wished that he would try something stupid so that I had a reason to cut him now. "Why were you running, asshole?" I made a U-turn and headed back the way we'd come.

"I've seen you with Emerson."

I reached over and punched him in the side of the face, not holding back, causing more damage and pain. "You don't fucking speak her name," I growled. I was going to enjoy killing the prick and feeding him to the alligators.

The sound he made was a cross between a snort and a grunt. "She told you who I was, huh?" he said.

When I looked over to catch his smirk, I lost my shit. I wanted to end him then and there. Images of him violating a young Emerson, who must have been frightened and devastated, nearly blinded me. I grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed his face into the dashboard violently several times until blood covered his face and he was out. I couldn't stand to hear his fucking voice or the smugness I detected in it. He thought the whole fucking thing was a joke. He didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Emerson, and I was going to make him suffer for what he'd done to her and her cousins.

I managed to make it home without killing him.

****

Emerson

"Here, honey, you look like you could use this." Ruby set down a cup of coffee in front of me.

"Thanks." I took a sip, tasting the alcohol at once. I smiled. "What else did you sneak in here?"

"A shot of vodka." She sat down across from me, not the least bit sorry that she’d served me hard liquor before the sun was up.

"Thank you for your help."

"We're family," Ruby said simply with a gentle smile. "Once you embrace that you'll learn to trust us."

I got the impression that she was chastising me, even though it was in a kind, subtle way. I glanced down into my coffee in regret, wishing that I'd figured that out sooner. "My mother died when I was a teenager. Until then I'd had what you could call a normal, happy family. Sure, there werethingsthat happened occasionally but I'd been too young to recognize them for what they were. After my mom passed, my father’s behavior towards me changed."

"You didn't talk to anyone, a school nurse or—"

"I was too ashamed and embarrassed to tell anyone then, or now," I said after a few minutes. "My father was in prison up until a couple of weeks ago. I had a new life. I never thought he'd find me, or that he'd even want to. That he would want revenge for turning him in and testifying against him never entered my mind. Then I began seeing him all over town, just brief glimpses that I convinced myself were lookalikes or that I'd imagined it altogether. Ace and I fought about my keeping secrets."

She smiled with sympathy. "Honey, I'm sure that now that Ace knows more about what happened, he understands. I learned the hard way, too. I wasn’t honest with Tanner about something in my past when I first came here. The results were devastating and almost cost me Tanner. These men are fiercely loyal and protective, but they have a responsibility to their MC and our town. They have to know about any trouble that may come their way."

I nodded. "I see that now. I regret not telling Ace."

"There's not much you could do that Ace wouldn't forgive you for in the end."

She sipped at her coffee. For a minute we sat in silence with our own thoughts, mine on Ace and what he was doing right now, what he felt he had to do for me. He was a good man for the most part, all of the Sentinels were. I knew exactly what Ruby was saying without actually saying the words. They could be as lethal and unpredictable as any other outlaw club when it came to protecting their families and their town. They didn't share anything about club business with their women, but sometimes you just knew that they were involved in dangerous, sometimes illegal activity in order to get the results that law enforcement couldn’t.

Suddenly, Ruby reached across the table for my hand. "Don't worry about Ace."

"I love him!" I blurted out in a breathless whisper.

Amusement danced in Ruby's eyes. "I know. And he loves you. It's obvious."

I stared at her in awe. "He loves me?" Had he told her that?

She nodded. "Yes, but don't expect to hear those words from Ace. He's a doer, not a talker. And if you can't figure it out, you don't deserve him."

I sat back with a gasp, feeling as if she'd struck me.

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