Page 5 of Broken Skulls

“What?” My gaze scans the area, looking for him.

“You tell us? You two left on your little bike ride and only one of you returned.”

I shrug. I’m not Brody’s babysitter.

Jackson laughs. “He called and said he was loving the beach life, and he’d be back for the charity run.”

“Good for him,” I say.

“So, that means you’re up next to watch Ash’s woman for him.”

I rub my hand down my face. I really don’t have time to watch two feral women. “Well, I can’t. I’ve got to keep an eye on the woman I’ve got locked in my basement.”

Everyone laughs.

It’s a little thing I’ve learned over the years. If you’ve done something crazy, just tell people the truth. They’ll rarely believe you.

Tank smirks. I’m not sure if he believes me or not. Don’t care. That man will be in debt to me for the rest of his life. I could have … still undecided on whether I should have … let Dan kill him for fooling around with his daughter.

“Well, that’s one way to get a woman to stay with you,” one of the club assholes yell.

Ouch.

But I guess he’s right. The only woman, other than the one in my basement, who has spent the night at the junkyard with me was my ex-wife. I knew she was a club whore, but I let my dick override my good sense. She used me to get her into the club … I used her to get off. Needless to say, neither lasted long.

Jesse eventually had enough of my wife whoring around on me and kicked her out of the warehouse, encouraging me to do the same at home.

Am I thinking with my dick again?

Maybe.

“Fine. But eventually I’m going to need you to take a shift,” Jackson gives in to me. He snaps his fingers at Reefer. “Get Lexie’s address from Tank. If she does anything questionable, call me.”

Reefer lights up a joint as he heads around the building. He’s a new transfer from NorCal. I don’t know much about him, but Tank swears he’s as loyal as they come. He smokes copious amounts of weed, but he’s the hardest damn worker I’ve ever seen. He helped me put a new roof on one of my buildings at the yard, and I could barely keep up with him.

“How much longer is the kid going to be in?” I ask Jackson, glad that I don’t have to watch her. I can only handle one broken female at a time.

“Ninety-days. I’m sure we can keep the girl out of trouble for that long.”

“Well, I’ll have room in my basement once I let the current tenant out. Just let me know.”

Everyone laughs again.

Well, not everyone. Jesse arches an eyebrow my way, a scowl forming on her face.

It scares me enough to turn away.

Chapter Four

Lizzie

Isit in the bathtub until the water grows cold, and I begin to shiver. My fingers fumble over the edge of the tub, searching for my towel.

Everything is harder in the dark. Everything has to be done delicately and with thought. Not being able to see forces you to be present.

Yet, I’m finding the darkness easier in some ways.

There’s no one here to judge me. I don’t have to blur the faces of everyone around me to shield myself from their looks of pure hatred.

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