Gunn

I thought I’d walked far enough away from the rest of the guys but Angel had a set of ears on him. He pretty much heard every damn word I said to Brenna. It took him a hot second to fill Switch in on what was going on. They took the empty stools on either side of me at the bar. I held up two fingers to Rita. She was working the bar solo until Ford got there in an hour. She gave Switch and Angel a conspiratorial wink as she set out three frosted beer mugs and filled them from the tap.

“So, jailbait, huh?” Switch said. “That’s new.”

I grabbed my beer and started drinking. I was going to need something a lot harder to get through this conversation. “Brenna’s not jailbait. She’s twenty.”

Angel laughed. “You sure about that? I mean ... she’s got one fake ID, maybe the other one was fake too.”

“Still,” Switch said. “Bad joujou, Gunn. She’s still Scotty Rose’s little sister, right?”

I wanted to punch him. Right in the fucking face. “Shut it,” I said. “I didn’t say I was looking to fuck her. I’m just looking to help her out.”

“Huh.” Angel turned on his stool so he could look out at the bar crowd. The dude was always on the make. “Well, I mean ... Scotty was cool and all, but he wasn’t my best friend. So, if you’re not looking to fuck her ... maybe …”

I knocked him off his stool. I knew he was just busting my balls, but he’d said enough to make an image flash in my mind. An image of Angel with his hands all over Brenna.

Fuck.

This wasn’t just overprotective rage or some obligation I still felt to Scotty. This was straight-up lust and jealousy. I wanted her. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Angel was laughing his damn head off as he slid back on the stool. I’d played right into it with him. To his credit, Switch just kept his face in his beer.

Angel put a hand on my shoulder. “Peace, brother. You know I’m just fucking with you. And look, no one gives two shits if you want to spend some time with that girl. She’s young, yeah. But she seems like a good chick, ya know? And she could probably do a lot worse than you.”

“Just ... shut up, man.” I took another swig of beer, wishing it would be enough to quell the burn rising in my gut. I wanted her. I wanted Brenna. There was no good reason why I’d need to meet with her again to talk about her tuition. Except the second she said she’d come, I couldn’t think about anything else.

It was a betrayal. There was no other way to look at it. If Scotty were here, he’d knife me in the balls just for looking at Brenna. When she let me hug her the other day and I felt her sweet curves, I’d done a shit ton more than just look.

“Ease up, man,” Switch said. He gestured to Rita, noticing I’d already finished my beer. Yeah. Tonight felt like a good night to get shitfaced. I could figure out what the hell I was going to do about Brenna tomorrow.

Rita poured as a ruckus rose near the front of the bar. I did a quick scan. Marcus was working the door again. We’d hired two new bouncers and so far, they’d done a decent job at crowd control.

“Sheeit,” Switch said. “I was hoping for a nice, quiet night.” He checked his piece and popped off his stool. The crowd near the door broke and a voice rose above the shouting that turned my blood cold.

“Where is that fucker? I’ll kill him. Get the fuck out of my way!” One heartbeat and I was fifteen years old again. Adrenaline coursed through me as I saw Scotty’s bloodied face in my field of vision. I’d found him up in the treehouse we’d built in the woods behind his house. He puked all over my shoes when I turned him.

“He’s gonna kill you one of these days,” I said to him back then.

“Better me than her,” was his answer.

Cam, one of the new bouncers, took a step back, holding his palms out, trying to placate the guy. Cam sidestepped and it put me in the direct line of sight of Tim Rose, Scotty’s piece-of-shit old man. He raised a gnarled finger and pointed it at me.

“You,” he said. His voice dripped with hatred. The fucker wanted to kill me as much as I wanted to kill him.

I slid off my stool, letting my fingers play near my hip holster. I didn’t think Tim would be stupid enough to walk into our club packing, but I wasn’t going to put it to the test.

“The fuck you doing here?” I asked. I waved Switch off as I walked toward Tim. He stayed at my shoulder with Angel on the other side. Cam kept a hard grip on Tim’s arm but didn’t stop him from coming toward me when he saw me give the go-ahead.

God, he’d gotten old. Tim Rose was in his mid-fifties, but he looked about twenty years past that with deep lines creasing his face. His nose was a misshapen, mottled purple mess after years of hard drinking. He’d probably broken it at least two more times since I last saw him.

“You stay away from her!” Tim said. He could barely stay upright. Cam’s grip kept him on his feet as much as it kept him from coming any closer.

There was movement behind him as Sly came out of his office. Dex and Tiny walked out from the back room. It was subtle, each man moving into position around the bar. If he tried anything stupid, Tim Rose would be dead before he hit the floor.

“Or what?” I said. Maybe it wasn’t the most diplomatic thing to say, but I didn’t care.

“You’re trash. You’ve always been trash. All of you!”

“I think you need to rethink your plan here, Tim,” I said. “Wasn’t the wisest choice to come into my clubhouse.”

The crowd parted near the bar, letting Sly through. He whispered commands to the bouncers and gestured to Rita.

“You need to leave,” I said. “Look around, Tim. This isn’t going to end too good for you.”

“You think I don’t know what happens in this town?” Tim said. “You think I don’t have just as many connections as you do? You were seen with her. My baby. With your hands all over her. Susie said you gave her money. Well, we don’t want it. And I’m not gonna let my girl whore herself out to you.”

My fist landed square across Tim’s jaw. Cam kept his hands on Tim to keep him upright. Sly called out. Rage coursed through me. Tim spit blood, but I knew I hadn’t hit him that hard. Just enough to get his attention.

Sly stepped between us. “You need to rethink your shit,” he said to Tim through gritted teeth. “No way this ends how you think, man. It’s over. Nobody here’s looking to hurt you or your family. But if you keep this up, I’m gonna let Gunn take another swing.”

“Gunn,” Tim spat. “Perfect name for a piece-of-shit thug.”

Cam let him go and Tim staggered sideways. His blood-red eyes blazed through me. He was drunker than I’d ever seen him and spoiling for a fight. I was good and ready to give him one but it would be too one-sided.

“Get him out of here,” Sly said. “Switch, round up a couple of the probies and drive his sorry ass home.”

“Do me a favor and sit on him until he sobers up,” I said. “I don’t want him getting any ideas and making his way over to his ex-wife’s place. It’s been a lot of years, but nothing has changed with this asshole. I don’t trust she won’t open the door for him.”

“You got it,” Switch said. He let out a sharp whistle, calling out for Josh and Judd.

Dex had a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. He seemed to know how badly I wanted to finish the job on Tim. He kept his grip on me until Switch and the probies got Tim out of my sight. Only then did I let my shoulders drop.

“All right,” Sly yelled. “Show’s over!” The crowd instantly dispersed, leaving me still shaking with rage.

Sly came to me. “You got this under control?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

He nodded but didn’t look convinced. “Hopefully that fuck will sober up and realize the error of his ways.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Me neither. I can put some eyes on his old lady’s place for a few days if that’ll make you feel better.”

I wanted more than eyes. I wanted to snuff Tim Rose out. For every beating he’d given Susan. For every one Scotty took in her place. He hadn’t changed. He would never change. And if he knew about the money I’d given Brenna, it meant he was probably still in contact with Susan.

“I need to cool my head,” I said to Sly. “You mind if I cut out for a little while?”

Sly’s expression fell. He had enough of a clue where my thoughts might lead. To his credit, he didn’t try to stop me.

“Just don’t do anything stupid, all right? We’ve had enough drama for one day and I still need everyone to stay sharp.”

I shook off Dex’s grip. “I’ve got it,” I said. I didn’t wait for any more advice from my prez or veep. There was some shit I had to do.