Page 70 of The Echo of Violence

And then it hits me. “You want me to be Mercy’s personal guard.”

Wizz and Kaz stop talking and look from me to Scope.

“She wants this center, and we both know there will be no men allowed inside once it’s up and running. That rules out the other prospects. Mercy can take care of herself, but she’s still only one person, and if she gets pregnant…” Scope blows out a breath as he squeezes his hands into fists.

“As queen bee, she’s always going to be a target. I know you don’t get that, but—”

“I do. Better than you know.” I lean back and sigh. “I don’t need to become a prospect to guard Mercy.”

“You do. It gives you the protection of the club.”

I lean forward. Toto lifts his head, but sensing no danger, he lies back down again.

“How does Mercy feel about this?”

“I haven’t discussed it with her yet. It falls under club business for now.”

“I understand how that works, but it’s different here, and you know it. Mercy might hate me now after what went down. I won’t ever put her in a position where she’s even more miserable than she already is.”

“She’s not fucking miserable,” Kaz snaps defensively.

I don’t say anything. If he wants to live in a boat on the river of denial, that’s up to him.

“Mercy won’t care. In fact, knowing now what we do, she’ll be your biggest cheerleader,” Scope reassures me.

“I won’t do anything without talking to her first—or my team, and they’re out of town right now.”

“If you become a prospect, you’ll answer to me. I’m the club president. In fact, you’ll answer to all the brothers, just like the other prospects do. It’s about earning your respect.”

“It’s different with me. You said so yourself. If I do this, Mercy will be my first priority, not you. If we became friends, I wouldn’t hide shit from her that I deemed detrimental to her safety just because you guys tagged it as club business. Do you know how often a woman gets caught up in shit she could have taken precautions against because she was kept in the dark?”

All three of them look at me oddly. A strange mix of anger still exists, but there is also respect and intrigue there too.

“Having a female in the club will certainly make us all look at things from different angles,” Kaz mutters.

“You’re protectors. You want to keep the dangers away from your women. It’s an admirable trait, but it’s impossible to police it. Women face danger every day, even when they aren’t involved with an MC. We know what to look out for. Sure, physically, men tend to be stronger, but mentally… Women have you beat. We’ve learned about survival since the day we were born. Give Mercy—and the club girls, for that matter—the basic tools they need to keep themselves safe. They don’t need all the details, but keeping stuff from them that could mean the difference between life and death… that can’t be fixed afterward with an oops, sorry.”

“You’re talking from experience,” Wizz says quietly.

“Dude, all women are talking from experience. Your old lady was shot in the head and dumped in a river.”

The table creaks under Scope’s grip. I lean back and blow out a breath. I can’t believe I’m even contemplating this.

“I have had a double amputation below the knee. I’m sure you’ve all noticed my fancy blades. It happened a long time ago. I am skilled with my prosthetics and confident in my ability to use them. But I’m not a superhero. There are things I can’t do as well as able-bodied people, and I never will. Flights of stairs are brutal, for one. If I get knocked on my ass, I can’t get back up as fast as the next person. If there is an emergency in the middle of the night, I can be in my chair and armed within thirty seconds, but I can’t run. I live on the first floor because in an apartment, I’d be trapped. I’ve found a way to work around most things, but you have to be aware of them if I’m guarding Mercy.”

As they watch me, most of the hostility has gone from each of them now.

“Mercy has more training than most. I’m not kidding when I say she can handle herself. But, like I said, she’s only one person. I need someone to watch her back. We don’t need you to take over her life. She has me for that,” Scope answers wryly, making Wizz snort. “We need someone to complement her skills. Someone who can work with her as a team. Someone she trusts.”

I rest my elbows on the table and press my hands together, the tips of my fingers touching my lips. “I won’t be able to get down on my hands and knees and scrub floors or toilets. I could probably figure out how to make it work, but I don’t want to. I’ve had to eat shit for so long now that I won’t do it again. I also won’t take crap from a brother under the guise of prospect hazing that is sexual in nature. Getting on my knees, for obvious reasons, is tricky as fuck.”

Kaz laughs, but Scope shakes his head.

“No fucker here would do that. And if they did, I would take care of them.”

“You wouldn’t get a chance to. They aren’t going to back off while I call for help. Men who are willing to push it that far are only going to stop when I rip their nuts off.”

“Who are you really, Jinx?” Wizz asks quietly this time.

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