Page 129 of Gunner

He stared down at Grace for another moment before turning to me. His grin could only be described as smarmy. Like the creepy fucking uncle the girls all hid from during the holidays.

“Well, Bruce here said he would do my tattoo, and I didn’t have to come at the crack of fucking dawn.”

I turned a glare on Bruce, and he shrugged. It wasn’t his fault I hadn’t said anything. I didn’t think Freeway would ask him. He tried to book with Indie, and it wasn’t because he liked her work. Indie said no, which I knew she would. Even if she hadn’t, no fucking way would I allow her to work on him.

“What did I tell you about respecting my employees?”

“How about telling your fucking employees to respect you?” he sneered.

“I will run my fucking business how I see fit. I will remind you again, I’m the fucking SAA. Apologize.”

His eyes turned to saucers before narrowing on my patch. Mumbling something I couldn’t distinguish, he turned to Indie and Grace. “I apologize.”

Grace nodded and moved toward Indie’s station. Indie glared at Freeway and gathered her tools from her station, before focusing on Grace. “Follow me.”

Grace followed her into the piercing room. I didn’t let anyone use it for tattoos. We had curtains and room dividers for privacy. But given Grace’s state, I didn’t say a word.

Her reaction to Freeway would definitely need to be brought to King’s attention.

The rest of the day was uneventful, and when I was done, I rode over to Haizley’s. She was supposed to meet me at the clubhouse, but since I got out earlier than expected, after my last client canceled, I decided to surprise her. Maybe I could talk her into riding behind me.

I hadn’t gotten her on my bike yet, and I was more than ready to feel her pressed up against me. Her thighs tight against my hips.

Pulling up to her house and seeing the deputy’s car, jealousy and anger overruled everything else, and I hopped off my bike, barely getting the kickstand down. I looked around and didn’t see the prospect anywhere. I would take care of that later.

Jogging up the few porch steps, I opened her door, expecting to see Blackwater. Instead, Deputy Reed stood over my woman, arguing with her.

“I know he was here. What the fuck did you do?”

“Deputy, I can assure you, I have no idea where he is.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Moving between Reed and Haizley, I had no choice but to bump him back with my chest. Which I would have done anyway, even if there had been enough space between them. If ever there was a time to bang on my chest and mark my territory like a fucking caveman, it was now.

“Watch it, Gunner. That could be considered assault,” Reed threatened.

“Wouldn’t be the first fucking time I caught an assault charge protecting a woman. Matlock’s real fucking good at getting those thrown out.”

“Gunner.” Haizley pulled on the back of my cut, and I turned to her. I wasn’t worried about turning my back on the deputy. What Haizley didn’t know was that when Nav installed the security cameras, there was one in this room as well. I hoped he gave me a fucking a reason.

I wasn’t taking a chance with her safety.

If she ever found out, she would be pissed, but I made sure Nav was the only one who knew. I didn’t even have access, and Nav, despite being a great fucking hacker, had his own issues with privacy, so I knew he wouldn’t betray her patients.

“Got a tip that Greg Williams came into this house a few nights ago and never left. I was questioning the homeowner about his whereabouts.”

That was interesting.

“What night was it?”

“Saturday evening.”

“Your tip was mistaken. I was with Haizley on Saturday evening. In fact, Blackwater was here Sunday morning, asking about a tip of suspicious activity. We explained all that, and he seemed satisfied. Maybe you should check with him.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting to see what he would do next. He tried to stare me down, but it wasn’t long before he looked away.

Fucking pussy.

It was easy for men to intimidate women. But put them up against a six-foot eight-inch former outlaw biker and they backed down pretty fucking quick. Despite the gun he wore on his hip.

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