Chapter Six
Kick
Peter Bishop and I had a strange relationship. I felt like my family owed him a lot for what my father had done to him, and I was sure he hated me for everything my father had taken from him. But I was also certain he hated the fact I knew every dark secret he had and that I had bailed him out on more occasions than he cared to admit.
I stood in his living room and watched the broken man in front of me. Fuck, he’d finally hit rock bottom. I’d never known him to admit he had a problem and that’s what he’d just done.
“Who do you owe this time?” I asked, hoping like hell it wasn’t the same guy he’d owed last time. I had nothing on that asshole so would struggle to dig Peter out if that was the case.
His eyes held fear when he gave me the name. “Jonathon Gambarro.”
“Fucking hell!” I yelled, “Why the fuck did you go to him?”
He hung his head for a moment before looking back up at me with regret. “I was running out of options.”
I grabbed the back of my neck and muttered, “Jesus, Peter. How long you got to come up with the money?”
“One week.”
Fuck.
I dropped my hand and stalked into his kitchen. Reaching into a cupboard, I grabbed a glass and then grabbed the bottle of bourbon I knew he had stashed in another cupboard. It had been a while since I’d been to Peter’s house but he was a man of habit, and, sure enough, the bourbon was still there. I poured myself a drink and downed it in one go.
Peter followed me. “I fucked up, Kick.”
I turned my head to look at him, a scowl on my face. “You did more than fuck up this time. Gambarro isn’t known for his compassion.”
“I don’t know what to do. Evie told me she would take care of it, but – ”
I cut him off, “Evie’s not fuckin’ going near this shit fight. I won’t have her involved in this. Do not fuckin’ tell her who you owe or I swear to fuckin’ God I will take you out myself.” Anger spread through me at the mere thought he’d even think to involve Evie in this. Did he not have a clue who he was dealing with?
He didn’t say a word. A good fucking idea because anything he’d say would be the wrong thing at this point. My fists clenched and I slammed my hand down on the counter in frustration. I stared at him for a long moment, trying desperately to contain my rage, and when I couldn’t rein it in any longer, I picked up the glass in front of me and threw it at the wall. “This is the last fuckin’ time, Peter!” I yelled at him. “If I drag you out of this, and then find out you’ve done it again… so help you God because I sure as fuck won’t be.”
He nodded but remained silent.
He knew he’d pushed me to the limit.
He knew I was done.
The debt to his family was paid.
* * *
Four hours later, I sunk down into a couch at the clubhouse bar. Hyde sat in the couch opposite me, his eyes questioning what was wrong. I still wore my anger at Peter plain for everyone to see. “What’s up with you?” he asked as he drank some of his beer.
I struggled with sharing my dilemma with him but decided I needed to. Any involvement of mine in this could potentially impact the club. I leant forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “My ex’s father owes ten grand to Jonathon Gambarro and the only hope he has of settling the debt is if I step in and help him.”
Hyde’s face clouded over with displeasure. “And what exactly would that involve?”
“I’d have to threaten him with something. I’d need the debt wiped with no payment involved, so that’s the only way to make that happen.”
“Fuck, Kick. This is dangerous territory. You really want to get mixed up with Gambarro? I can assure you once you’re on his radar he’ll have you in his sights and won’t rest ’til he takes care of you in whatever way he deems fit.”
I blew out a long breath. “I fuckin’ know that, Hyde, but what choice do I have? If I don’t step in, her father is dead.”
“And if you do step in, you’re a target going forward.” He leant forward. “And the club’s a fucking target.”
“Yeah.”
He shook his head and stood. “Stay out of it, Kick. The club doesn’t need any more trouble. We’re still waiting to see if Silver Hell connects us with what you and King did the other night; this is more shit we don’t need.”
Fuck.
* * *
“Please, Kick. I’m desperate,” my sister begged me over the phone at three o’clock that afternoon. She needed a babysitter for a couple of hours while she attended her university lecture.
“I can do it, Lina, but fuck, where the hell is Dave?” Her asshole ex-husband always let her down and it pissed me off.
“He’s drunk again. He just called me, like five fucking minutes ago, to say he couldn’t make it now because he accidentally drank too much at the pub after work.” Not only did she sound angry; I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. Fuck, that asshole would be answering to me.
“I’ll be there soon,” I promised. Hanging up, I eyed Nitro who I’d been talking to about bike engines again, and said, “Sorry man, I’ve gotta go help my sister out.”
“Sure, brother. We good for Saturday?” he asked, watching as I stood.
We’d planned to work on his engine. “Yeah, I’ll probably get to your place by eleven.”
He gave me a chin lift and I headed out.
When I arrived at Lina’s house twenty minutes later, she seemed even more frazzled. My brows knit together. “What’s wrong?”
“Dave just called again and said he’d be here after all.” She gave me a pained look. “Kick, I don’t want him anywhere near the kids, not when he’s drunk.”
I placed my hand on her upper arm. “I’ll take care of him, okay? I don’t want you worrying about it. You just go and do your shit and leave Dave to me.”
Tears pricked her eyes and she collapsed into my arms. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” she sobbed.
Fuck, things were worse than I realised. “What the fuck’s going on, Lina?”
She clung to me and sobbed for a good few minutes before pulling away and wiping her eyes. Sniffling, she admitted, “He does this often. And sometimes he turns up and gets aggressive with me if I won’t let him in the house.”
“Fuck, me!” I yelled, the anger punching through my body, “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want this to happen!” she yelled back. “I wanted to try and sort it out without involving you because I knew you’d resort to violence to fix it.”
I scowled at her. “Sometimes the only thing that works is violence.”
She hung her head for a moment and then gave me her eyes again. Sad eyes. “I know you won’t get this, but I still love him. After everything he’s done, I still love him, and even though I know we aren’t good together and can never go back to what we had, I don’t want you to hurt him,” she said softly, her words pleading with me to understand.
I roughly rubbed the back of my neck. “Shit, Lina. You’re right, I don’t get it. The guy fucked around on you, he’s a shit father, and you want mercy for him? Even after he’s gotten aggressive with you?”
Her lips spread into a thin line. “Some people don’t know how to do better, Kick. For some, their best is our worst, and it’s not always their fault,” she said softly, calmly.
My eyes widened. “Don’t sprout that psych bullshit at me that you’re learning, ’cause I’m not fuckin’ interested in excuses. How can you stand here and cry on my shoulder about him one minute and then turn around and defend him the next?”
She sighed. “If I went through life holding onto the shit people have done to me, I’d be an angry and depressed person. I have to let it go . . . for me, not them. And sometimes you can love and hate someone at the same time. I choose to let both in, to not deny my feelings and only concentrate on the bad. And as far as crying on your shoulder, yeah, I’ve reached a point where I’m feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes you just need a good cry and then you can keep going.”
I listened to everything she said, and while I didn’t agree with it, I respected her enough to try to follow her wishes. At least until that didn’t work and then we’d do things my way. Because I was sure as fuck that her way wouldn’t work. “I won’t hurt him, but I will make it clear that I’m watching him, and if he doesn’t pull his head in, I’ll be stepping in for you.”
“Thank you,” she said as she stood on her toes to kiss my cheek. “You’re a good brother, Kick.”
“We’ll see if you still think that after he fucks up again and I lose my shit at him.”
She shook her head. “You have so little faith in people.”
“It’s what happens when you’ve been fucked over by people too often, babe.”
Her face grew wistful. “We need to find you someone to love. Someone who will love you so much you might start to believe in people again.”
I ignored her and jerked my chin towards the front door. “Go. You don’t want to be late.”
She grinned at me and turned to walk away. “I’m going to start looking,” she threw over her shoulder as she left the room.
I shook my head to myself as I went in search of the kids. When my sister got an idea in her head she never let it go. She could try all she liked but I’d never be like her. She was too fucking compassionate and forgave too easily.
There’d only been two people in my life who I’d ever thought I’d be able to forgive if needed.
Turned out me and forgiveness didn’t get along well.