Page 4 of Keeping Winter

The delivery man gives a curt nod, his eyes almost traveling back to me before he deliberately turns his head away. “Should we come back?” he offers.

Only then does it dawn on me that I never put pants on this morning. I’m still wearing the oversized T-shirt and panties with no bra. My cheeks heating with embarrassment, I take a step back until I’m mostly hidden by the door.

“No, no. That’s not necessary. Um, why don’t you unload the mattress, and I’ll go get presentable?” Without waiting for a reply, I dip the rest of the way behind the door and pull the T-shirt as far down over my thighs as I can before sprinting toward the hall.

My first day trying to be an actual grown-up, and I’ve already mucked it up. At least I hopefully won’t ever have to see the mattress delivery people ever again. And he was nice about it. I’ll have to take what I can get.

3

Gabriel

The new shopis coming together nicely. The clubhouse itself still needs a bit of work, but with the boys living there, I’m sure it’ll shape up in no time. As much as I trust them to make it a proper house. At least they’ve each got four walls and a ceiling to call their own. And a bathroom.

But the shop was our priority because this is where the business will be running out of for the most part. And we don’t really care if we have a full bar and rec room in place for the club. We can hang out anywhere and drink. Business is the priority. A place to gather matters most once we start initiating recruits, which will happen soon. We’ve had interest around town but haven’t reached our recruiting meeting yet, so mostly, it’s been the four of us getting things up and running.

The shop’s still quiet when I arrive, and dark, indicating I’m the first one here. Flipping on the light, I look around the space. We don’t have any cars to work on yet. But we’ve already put our name around town, so they’ll come. In the meantime, the point of today is meeting Mark’s Boston contact, who’s going to get things started with shipments for the Devil’s Sons.

With Mark’s permission, the best part is that I’ll be starting this sister chapter as a completely legitimate business. No transporting drugs or guns stashed under the facade of car parts sent from Asia and Europe. Instead, Someone else is making the drop before I even get there. I’m in charge of dispersing the auto parts that came with the drugs or weapons.

So, maybe not entirely clear of elicit activity. I know about it. But I don’t know the details, and I won’t be in charge of conversations with the people who might shoot me if their delivery comes up short. I’m the decoy, the representative to prove to authorities who might come poking around that the Devil’s Sons are a legitimate business they don’t need to worry about. I think that’s the only reason Winter’s comfortable with me staying in the club. At least, while I might need to be the muscle sometimes if Mark really needs it, I won’t constantly be putting me—or her on the front lines anymore.

The rumble of bikes notifies me that the guys have arrived, just on time.

“Knock, knock,” Dally says as the shop door swings open a minute later. “How’d the move go? All right?”

I shrug. “Drive was long, but we didn’t have too much to haul up with us since the furniture won’t be coming until next week.”

Knuckles and Rico follow through the door a moment later.

“You boys get any more done on the clubhouse since I saw it last?”

“Kitchen counter’s in. And the sinks. It’s coming along slowly but surely,” Rico says.

I’m glad they’ve put him in charge of renovations for the living quarters. He’s probably got the best sense of style out of the four of us, and he and my uncle Javie used to pick up odd-end jobs with one of Javie’s construction friends when things got slow at the club, so he’s the right man for the job.

In truth, I’m grateful all three guys were willing to pick up and move with me. Not that any of them had deep ties or families in Blackmoor, but I don’t know that I could have done this without them. They’ve been doing the five-hour drive with me several times a week for months now to get the operation up and running. They’ve put in the time. And when I need Dally to take over as vice pres, he’s stepped up with a kind of maturity I hadn’t actually been sure he possessed.

“So, what we hashing out with this guy today anyhow?” Knuckles asks, picking up one of the garage tools and fiddling with it.

“We need to discuss runs and how the trade-off is gonna go. Mark trusts this guy, so I don’t think we have too much to worry about, but I don’t want him walking all over us because we’re young. He’s old blood, so we have to prove our mettle, or we’re gonna be the ones packing the coke into the back of his trucks, not his men.”

“Shit, we’ve been meeting loads for years. We know what it entails, and we’ve hauled our fair share from one rig to another.” Rico’s cocky expression doesn’t give me confidence that he’s catching my meaning.

“I’m not talking about proving we have the experience. Just don’t go mouthing off like a smartass. We’re all young, so I’m sure he’s looking to see if he can run us around. You gotta know your shit and act professionally.”

Rico raises his hand in a snarky solute, and I give him a shove.

“That’s exactly the kind of shit I’m talking about. Do you even know how to pretend to be a grown-up?” I demand.

“Oh, calm down, bossman. I know how to behave. That doesn’t mean I’ve gotta prove it to you,” Rico ribs.

I knew my cousin would be the hardest one to keep in line with the new hierarchy. He’s of the mind that being six months older means he gets to push me around because that’s what he’s always tried to do. But the fact is that Mark gave me the job. And I’m a hell of a lot bigger and stronger. No chance in hell he’s going to fuck with me.

“Actually, Rico,” Dallas cuts in, “that’s exactly what you’ve gotta do. You don’t watch your mouth, and our new president here has the authority to put you in charge of cleaning the toilets for the next six months until you learn how to respect him.”

Rico scoffs. “No way would Gabe do that.” Then his face falls, and his gaze turns to me. “Would you?”

“Keep it up, and I just might,” I tease.

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