Page 47 of Gunner
“He’ll either have a joint in his hand or a bottle,” she guessed and was right.
Skid enjoyed the perks of being in the MC. Women, weed, liquor, and violence—he was a connoisseur of them all. I just prayed whatever state of mind he was in when we walked inside, he didn’t start running off at the mouth in front of Sadie.
She glanced at me before turning the knob to the front door and pushing it open. I glanced around the small living room and walked to the kitchen. Skid was sitting on the back steps with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a joint in the other. I shook my head and turned to see Sadie walk back from the small hallway connecting the bedrooms with a worried look on her face.
“Why don’t you let me handle him?” I suggested.
She looked around my side and chewed on her lip in worry. I could see how much she wanted to comfort her little brother, but she refrained and answered, “I’m going to lie down in the bedroom and see if I can get lost in my book. Will you let me know if there’s anything I can do?”
I walked the few feet separating us and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her waist and holding her to me. With Jacob at Reba and Hatchet’s, maybe I could ease some of her stress in the bedroom. After I got Skid handled. Kissing her until we were both panting for breath, I whispered, “Read something naughty. I want to have my way with you later.”
She blushed, and I smirked as she pushed herself closer to me and rubbed against me. Not wanting this to go in the wrong direction, I pecked her on the lips again and released her. She turned to walk away, and I swatted her on the ass. Sadie squealed with laughter and grabbed her ass cheek as she hopped a step away from me. She blew me a kiss, and I winked as she disappeared down the hallway.
I looked over my shoulder and debated on how to handle this. I knew I needed to get the bottle out of his hand, so I poured two glasses of sweet tea and carried them to the sliding glass door. I kicked the frame lightly with my boot, and Skid jerked his head over his shoulder and lifted his chin to me. He stood and opened the door to let me out, then closed it behind me. The cold wind was increasing as the snow began to fall a little faster, and the flakes grew from small specks to fat balls of fluff falling to the ground.
He brushed some of the collecting snow off the top step, and he sat back down with the bottle of whiskey dangling between his spread legs. I sat down next to him on the wide steps and placed the glass of tea between us. He looked at it with hollow eyes and turned his gaze back to the yard as he lifted the bottle of liquor to his mouth. Taking a deep swallow, he set it down next to the tea without speaking and relit the now extinguished, half-smoked joint.
He took a deep draw and offered it to me. I could see his eyes move to his hand as I reached out and took it from him. The only alcohol I’ve had today was the shot at the clubhouse, and weed was never my problem. Inhaling the acrid smoke into my lungs, I felt it expand, burning my throat as I exhaled and handed it back to him.
“I need you to tell me everything you found out, so we can decide how to proceed.” My words were spoken into the yard, and my gaze never met his.
He ran a tattooed hand through his growing hair and stood from the step. He walked into the yard and began pacing back and forth, his steps crushing the minor accumulation of snow. His gaze met mine, and I saw fire burning brightly as he spoke.
“I read all of Scribe’s little red book. I read every single painful word, and when I started digging into the recordings at Callahan’s warehouse, I found out what Scribe admitted was true. Marco, may he rest in hell with the other sick fuckers of the world, kept track of everything. And everyone. No explanation as to why and no reason for them to still exist. But they do. Audio, video, and detailed accountings of the goings-on in the Flats.”
He shook his head, and I asked, “What exactly did those records show?”
“That Smokey and Bullet made a deal with the devil, and my sister was the sacrifice.” His voice was growing in intensity, and I felt like I was going to be sick.
“You need to explain what the fuck that means before I make shit up and kill them both.” The menacing tone in my voice shocked us both, and he brought his surprised eyes to mine.
He glanced over my shoulder and stepped closer to me. “Can you drive me to Scribe’s? I don’t want to do this here where she might hear us.”
“Yeah. Let me tell her where we’re going and I’ll meet you at the truck.”
He nodded and grabbed the bottle from the step as I opened the sliding glass door and stepped inside the chilly house. The fire had died down while we were at the funeral, so I stoked the embers and placed a log on it. The flames began to lick around the dry wood, and the heat filled the room as I walked to her bedroom. Knocking, I opened the door to find Sadie reading a book she checked out from the library last week.
She closed the book and sat up, swinging her feet over the side. I sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her against my chest. She smelled like spun sugar and sunshine, and I couldn’t help but kiss her on top of the head.
“Is Dalton okay?” she asked with her hands clenched on her lap.
“He will be. I’m going to take him to Mick’s so he can sleep it off. Are you going to be okay here until I get back?”
“I’ll be fine. It’s him I’m worried about,” she admitted, and I kissed her again.
“Let me handle him.”
She nodded against my chest, and I stood from the bed. Just as I walked through the doorway, she spoke softly.
“Thank you.”
I turned and smiled at her, admitting freely, “I’d do anything to make your life easier, baby. It’s what you do when you love someone.”
She smiled at me, and I winked before locking the house and walking to the already cranked truck. Skid was in the passenger’s seat with the closed bottle between his legs. He looked at me, then to the front of the house as I backed out of the driveway. I was driving out of the small neighborhood when he admitted, “At first, I didn’t like the thought of my sister being with a brother. I thought you were going to take advantage of her, and she would shatter. She almost did when you fucked up, and I wanted to kill you for hurting her and Jacob. But then you came back a stronger man than when you left and have done everything in your power to protect her. To love her.”
I didn’t respond as I drove down the road to Mick’s cabin. There wasn’t anything to say. I couldn’t justify my actions to him or anyone, but through hard work, I’d regained Sadie’s trust. I used to worry about the trust of the MC, but the revelations I’ve learned so far made me not give a fuck if they trusted me or not, because I didn’t know if I trusted them.
“She loves you, but if we don’t make this right, she’ll shut everyone out. She’ll live a life of fear and mistrust that she doesn’t deserve.”
