Page 60 of Gunner
He turned and picked up the computer again before I walked away, mumbling, “Caveman.”
“And damn proud of it,” he yelled with a chuckle, and I shook my head in exasperation.
I knew what I agreed to when I started dating someone in the MC. These men treated their women like queens when they weren’t fucking up in a spectacular way. They rode hard, fucked hard, loved hard, and killed without remorse. They were respected and feared. Harassed and sought-after. They were loyal to a fault.
At least I thought they were. Why would Smokey lie about what happened to the men in that house? Why did they let one get away? Where is he now?
I wasn’t afraid of him coming back for me. I wasn’t the same scared, vulnerable girl I was all those years ago when a group of men thought it was okay to take from me until I literally bled. They tried to ruin me, but Kade’s love, his screw-ups, and his honesty helped me heal. If he hadn’t done what he did with that slut, neither of us would have been strong enough to face the demons that chased us, threatening to drag us into our own personal hell. It was painful to see him with her, but it was the catalyst that got me where I am today.
As much as it hurt, I wouldn’t change a thing.
The timer dinged from the kitchen, so I opened the oven to check on dinner. The front door opened, and I peeked around the corner after setting the pan on the counter to cool. Dalton walked in and shook his cut onto the front porch, knocking off the flakes of snow sticking to the leather.
“Something smells good,” he said as he walked into the kitchen and pulled me into a quick hug.
“I made your favorite. Pot roast with extra potatoes and carrots. The rolls are going into the oven now.”
I looked at him as he leaned against the doorway and saw how tired he was. He was putting in a lot of time with Callahan, and I wondered how much longer he was going to carry around this notion of a debt to the madman of the Flats. Devlin Callahan took the chaos of the Flats and was slowly turning the run-down part of town into a place where people could be safe inside their own homes. When Marco was in charge, no one was safe.
The three of us sat down for dinner, and I could tell they both had something on their minds. I was right there with them, but I tried to keep the conversation going, hoping to glean some information from them. At minimum, Dalton knew what was in that little red book, but my gut told me Kade knew something as well. They would deny it if I confronted them, so the only thing I could do was watch and wait.
When the opportunity presented itself, I would be ready, and whoever he was, I was going to send him to hell where he belonged.
Chapter 25
Kade
The only thing Smokeysaid to us when we confronted him about the ATF agent delivering guns to our warehouse was it wasn’t our concern and we needed to keep our noses out of what didn’t interest us. That was three weeks ago, and neither Dalton nor myself had been back to the compound. Claw tried to talk to me about it a few days ago, but I blew him off, not wanting to involve any of the brothers until we had something concrete to show them.
Feelings, rumors, musings, and speculation wouldn’t cut it when we were confronting the President and VP of wrongdoings against the club. Those kinds of accusations could get us both killed if we didn’t have enough proof. Then Sadie and Jacob would be vulnerable, and neither one of us was willing to risk it, so we waited and watched.
Skid snuck onto the property last week and installed wireless cameras in and around the gun warehouse that was camouflaged on the back side of the property. The clubhouse and cabins were on the front of the property, so no one was aware he was even there. He was using the skills and connections Callahan provided to our advantage, and I began to think how open and exposed Smokey and Bullet have left us.
Through casual conversation with a few of the brothers at different times through the years, I found out that when Torch died, the club nominated who they thought would make a good president. The VP at the time had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and couldn’t take on the responsibility. Smokey was well-liked and respected by the members, so when he was voted in, everyone was happy.
Until the gun deal, when a few of the brothers either hung up their cuts or left to join another chapter of the Death Hounds. With chapters in Florida, Alabama, Texas, and six other states that I knew of, there were plenty to choose from. I thought about moving to another chapter but didn’t want to separate Sadie from the life she built for herself in Portstill.
