Page 43 of Acid

“Tinker—” he starts, but I cut him off and remind him, “First, don’t call me that anymore, and second, I haven’t had one day off in years, so I’m cashing in.”

“Wait a sec?—”

I hang up on him, and seconds later, my phone rings, but I silence it as my tears fall.

Yeah, a month off is definitely what the doctor ordered, as is Chinese food later after Cass is finished work.

She has someone for me to meet, and honestly, I can’t wait….

15

Acid – One Month Later

“Shane admitted to stealing from the till after closing, once the employees left, after Piston found the proof we needed,” I state to the brothers sitting around the table.

After watching the account books and scanning through the cameras, we caught Shane, our top cook, in the act, but after Natalie was targeted by the Killers and put in a coma for a few weeks, it got pushed into the back burner.

She’s awake now, with thanks to Perrie, who let out a shit load of secrets, including Piston and I allowing Natalie’s little brother Cooper to ride a fucking dirt bike. Cassidy explained there was nothing medically keeping her in the coma, and suggested angering her to wake her. Perrie managed it. I also believe the only reason we still have our balls is that my niece or nephew is hanging in strong, keeping Nat at bay.

Steal’s face reddens as he demands, “And what was his excuse?”

I smirk. It took for him to lose Cassidy to stop jumping to conclusions before getting the facts straight. We still don’t know what happened to Brute, and may never.

Piston and I both have our suspicions, we just need Cass to open up.

“His wife has cancer,” I supply, and Steal slumps back. I nod and say, “Yeah, Piston looked into it, and it’s legit. According to her oncology notes, she has roughly five months left to live, but there’s a new study, and he wants in on it. It’s groundbreaking, and if she gets the medicine, basically using his wife as a test subject, it could save her….”

“How much?” Cannon asks, raising a dark brow.

“Thirty-thousand,” Piston answers him, and he whistles.

Steal shakes his head and mumbles, “Men under fucking pressure to keep their loves,” then looks around the room, “All in favor for Shane losing his job?”

I sigh, hating this, but I lift my hand along with the brothers. The fucker stole, end of, when he knew he could have come to us.

Steal nods and bangs his gavel on the table, then looks around again, and asks, “All in favor of funding his wife’s treatment?”

One by one, we all put our hands up again, and I smile.

Steal smiles, bangs the gavel again, and then looks at me, stating, "After church, contact him and let him know our decision. I know he probably thinks his life is on the line.” I nod before he looks at Piston and asks, “How’s the security looking?”

I close off, ignoring what my brother says, my mind going back to Perrie. One month and I haven’t set eyes on her. Cass refuses to tell me where she lives, and I feel like I can’t fucking breathe.

I shove my tongue into her mouth, tangling it with hers, and I groan, holding her closer….

I blink, looking down, my heart physically breaking.

“He’s going to get you, Sweetie!” John shouts from the sidelines, and I chuckle as I dodge the fist coming my way.

Perrie growls, “Not helping, Dad!”

I grin as I dodge her fist again and taunt, “Is that all you’ve got, Tinker? Old man Harris can fight better than you….”

She narrows her eyes, and I know I’ve hit my mark when she runs at me. I bend, her stomach going to my shoulder, making her grunt before I flip her over. Perrie lands with athumpon the ring floor, and John laughs from ringside.

I grin and lift my arms in victory before I feel my feet being knocked out from under me, and I land opposite Perrie on my back.

“Fuck’s sake,” I groan as everyone laughs.

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