Page 113 of So Steady

Gil gnawed at his lower lip. “If I let you get on with it, Sam won’t go to the cops?”

“Nope.”

“And you won’t stop me leaving for Sydney?”

“Why the fuck would we want you here?”

Gil looked at the carpet as if searching for the Hail Mary pass, then his shoulders slumped. “Take what you want.”

“Including the bike?”

He nodded, his eyes watering at the edges again.

“Good,” Noah said. “Go get me the keys.”

Ten minutes later the van was packed to capacity with clothes, electronics and a couple boxes of tattooing ink that had come straight out of Silver Daughters storeroom. When Toby found them, Gil had gone white as a sheet. After that, he’d practically helped them pack the van.

“I’m sorry,” he said as Scott slid in the last box. “I mean it. I’m sorry about everything.”

Scott looked at him like he was an unwashed urinal. “Sod off. Ready to go, Toby?”

Toby, who’d been arranging Gil’s chains and rings into a shoebox, nodded, still taking his vow of silence seriously. He tucked the shoebox under his arm and climbed into the passenger seat.

“Okay,” Scott said, slamming the back of the van shut. “Just two more things.”

He turned to Gil and tapped his wrist. With a look of utter misery, Gil unbuckled his Gucci watch and handed it over.

“Thanks,” Scott said carelessly. “And you’ll call VicRoads tomorrow and transfer your bike into Sam’s name?”

Gil nodded, ashen faced.

“Wonderful.”

Like Toby, Noah had a feeling Scott was enjoying himself, but why not? Everything had gone well, it looked like they’d be going for that victory drink, after all.

“Are you ready to head back to Sam’s?” Scott asked, gesturing to Gil’s Fat Boy.

Noah took in the glossy black machine, his mood hovering between lust and fear. He hadn’t ridden in years, let alone to where Nicole was, full of questions and expectations and a bright, colourful future. He wasn’t ready. Not for any of it.

“Noah?”

Noah walked over to the bike and sat astride the leather seat. The sensation of metal against his thighs was like a homecoming. It had been years and years and years, but it was so fuckingfamiliar.

“You sure you know how to ride that thing?” Scott asked.

Noah looked across and realised he was joking. He grinned. “Pretty sure.”

He kicked the stand out of the way and turned the engine over. It roared like a pet tiger. He fought to keep the smile off his face. He turned to Gil, who looked like someone had punched him in the back of the head. “We’re done here. Head back inside.”

Gil opened his mouth, then closed it. Then he walked away, hands in his jean pockets. Noah watched him go, wondering how expensive they were. Maybe they should have taken them?

“I think we can leave him the clothes on his back,” Scott said, reading his mind. “We did well.”

“Yeah, you and Toby handled yourselves just fine.”

Scott smiled sheepishly. “I went a bit Sanford experiment, didn’t I?”

“You got the job done, that’s all that matters. See you at Silver Daughters.”

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