BRANDON
Nathan paced across the room while Shark and I finished explaining the fucked up situation from down south. His expression started out pissed, then quickly morphed into terrified. When we were done telling him everything, he threw his fist into the wall.
“This is bad.” He shoved his hands into his hair. “Where’s Mike?” He stomped out of the room, leaving us sitting at the table alone, staring at each other. “Goddamn it!” When Nathan returned, without the VP, he picked up a chair and threw it across the room. It slammed into the wall and two legs broke off, wood splintered all over the floor.
Mike finally showed up, buckling his belt as he sauntered in, and Nathan began to rehash the whole story to him. While they were having their hissy fit, I checked my phone. Still nothing from Hannah. I needed to get over there, get her away from Carter. Whatever was about to play out wouldn’t be safe for her. She could get caught in the crossfire, and from the look on Nathan’s face, there would be fire.
“It makes no sense. Why would Mateo turn on his brother?” Mike rubbed the side of his neck. “And if he asked you two to do the job, why have someone else step in last minute? Did you give him any reason to think you wouldn’t do it?”
“No.” Shark shook his head. “I don’t know what the fuck happened. Valentina was never the target either. Maybe we were a fucking decoy, like Brandon said. So Valentina wouldn’t know he was gunning for her, too.”
“Could be.” Mike looked to Nathan. “What’s the plan now? If Mateo is running shit, will he keep our two clubs tangled up, or is he gonna let us each do our own business again?”
“I don’t know.” Nathan leaned over the table, propped up by his clenched fists. A layer of sweat began to take over his forehead; a single drop slid down his cheek. “Mateo has his own game, no idea what he’s planning now.”
“Why did you agree to this shit without a club vote?” I asked, getting up. I heard enough, and I really didn’t give a rat’s ass anymore.
“Not everything needs a vote.” He growled at me, with narrowed eyes.
“Something like taking out a fucking cartel leader needs a vote!” I jabbed my finger into the table.
White teeth flashed at me. “You wanna run shit, is that what you're getting at?”
“What? Fuck no.” I shook my head.
“That’s why you fucked up down there, so Mateo would have my head and you’d take the seat.” He rounded the table, headed toward me.
“You’re fucked in the head if you think I would turn on my club.”
“Why not? You want out, isn’t that what I’m hearing around here? You’ve lost love for your brothers?”
“I love this club.” I watched him stalk toward me, bracing myself for what he was bringing.
His shoulders arched, his head ducked down. Pumping his fists at his side, he lunged for me. I sidestepped, letting him crash down into the chair I’d been sitting in. The old fuck stumbled back up to his feet and turned on me again, seething. Spit flew from his mouth, and he went for me again. This time I let him come at me. He wrapped his arms around my midsection and tried to push me down. We collided into the wall, and I managed to get my arms under his and broke his hold on me.
“Nathan!” VP yelled.
“It’s because of that whore! That little bitch spread her legs for you and now you can’t get your head out of her pussy!” His fist came at me. I ducked, managing to land a punch to his gut. Even with the thick layer of fat around his middle, he felt it. He cursed again, falling to his knees.
He got back to his feet, but Mike was behind him, pulling his arms back. “Knock it off!” he yelled at him, tossing him away from me.
I glared at him, catching my breath. I could have tossed him around for another hour; the words he spewed about Hannah got my blood boiling. Shark stood in front of me, more to protect Nathan than me.
“You need him,” I heard Mike say to Nathan, still trying to get him to calm down. “The other brothers will follow him, do you get that? They respect him. This club is falling apart.” He slammed his hand against Nathan’s chest, keeping him in the chair.
Nathan turned his steely gaze on me. “Get out.” He waved a hand at me, his chest still heaving from the physical exertion.
Mike looked at me over his shoulder. “Let the other guys know, tonight at eight. We figure this shit out.”
“You got it.” Shark nodded and gave me a shove to get me moving. I kept my gaze on Nathan, wishing I could have another go at him. One fist to the gut hadn’t appeased my annoyance.
“What the fuck is there to figure out?” I kicked the dirt once we were outside by our bikes. A few members had been in the clubhouse and had heard the shuffle, but hadn’t asked any questions. They knew better.
“How to get his ass out of the fire, I guess.” Shark looked at his phone. “Fuck. I missed another doctor’s appointment.”
I looked at him, tapping away on the phone, probably begging for forgiveness, and felt another twinge of jealousy hit me. “You’d give this up for her, even if she doesn’t want you to?” I asked him when he slid his phone back in his pocket.
“She wants me out. She wants to raise our kids without all the drama and danger, but it's the only life she’s known—like you said. She’s scared. And right now, pissed.” He climbed onto his bike.
“She’s gonna have you whipped in no time.” I grinned at him, swinging my leg over my own hog.
“Have me? Hell, that woman had me wrapped around her finger the first time I laid eyes on her. She deserves better than this.” He nodded to the clubhouse.
Sarah, the blonde waitress who warmed my bed whenever I wanted, walked out of the front door at that moment, wiping her hand across her mouth. Her lips were swollen and her lipstick smeared across her cheek. Looking at her then, remembering the times I’d used her, my gut twisted. Such a waste. When she noticed us staring at her, she narrowed her eyes and turned away.
“Still haven't heard from Hannah?”
“Nah. I’m gonna head to the diner, maybe she’ll be there. If I don’t hear from her soon, I’m going to have to go get her.”
“You can’t just march into Soldiers’ territory. Not now. Not until we know what the fuck is going on. Wait until tonight; if you don’t hear from her, then you can decide to make a move.”
I nodded. He was right. Until I knew what happened down in Mexico, walking into their clubhouse would be a crapshoot. “If she’s not at the diner, I’ll head over to my ma’s. I haven’t seen her in a while, and she’s been bugging me to stop by.”
“You wanna crash with us tonight?” He snapped his helmet strap. “Less time here probably the better.”
I looked over my shoulder at Nathan, who had come out of the clubhouse still wearing his pissy glare. He watched me—I could feel his eyes on me when I turned back to Shark. “Might be a good idea. Seem to have lost some love around here.”
“He’s just looking for someone to blame and you were the closest to him. It’ll blow over.”
“Yeah, but he knows we want out. Probably taking it personally that I haven’t gone to him directly.”
“Probably,” Shark agreed. “After this is settled tonight, we’ll sit down with him. Tell him our plans.”
I gave him a wary look. “Maybe we should make some, then.”
He grinned. “Always wanted to open a bike shop.”
***
When I pulled into the diner parking lot I realized my stomach was in knots. At the idea of finding her, or not finding her there? As much as I tried to keep telling myself I was looking out for Hannah because she was an innocent, because she was mine for the time being, I realized I was a complete bullshitter.
I looked out for her because that pixie had wormed her way under my skin, and there was no way I’d be letting her go. Not now, and not ever.
Her car wasn’t in the lot, but I parked anyway. Maybe I got lucky and she finally upgraded that bucket of bolts
She wasn’t in the diner either, but Martin was.
He sat in the back of the place, in a booth with a woman. She looked familiar, someone probably at the Soldiers’ house. Martin noticed me and stood up from the booth. He put his hand out to the woman to keep her there, and marched over to me.
“We need to talk.” He jerked his head to a booth near me.
“I don’t have shit to say—”
“You’re here lookin for Hannah, right?” he shot at me.
I swept my eyes across the room, and didn’t see any other members. I nodded.
“Well, she ran off.”
“What the fuck?” I slid into the booth. “What happened?”
“Here or down south?” he asked with a sly grin.
“Both.”
“Rumor has it you’re looking to exit the MC, is that right?” He drummed his fingertips on the table.
“Maybe.” Being non-committal, that was my theme.
“If you are, don’t worry about what happened down South. Just focus on finding Hannah before Carter does. He’s searching all over for her.”
“If I’m not?”
“If you're not, which I don’t think is the case, then get ready for a new ruler in town.”
I wanted to smack his shit-eating grin off his face. If Hannah didn’t tell me how much he ran interference for her with Carter, I might have done just that. “Mateo.” I nodded.
“For one,” he agreed.
“Hannah. Where is she?” I didn’t have time for Mateo’s drama or Nathan’s fight. I needed to find Hannah. If she ran away from Carter, he wouldn’t give up until he found her. “What happened? Why’d she run?”
“Carter woke up two days ago to an empty bed. She left him a note that she went out for breakfast, or coffee. When she didn’t show by the afternoon, and didn’t answer his calls, he got pissed. He’s been turning the whole town upside down.”
“Isn’t he preoccupied with the whole Mateo-Eduardo mess?” I watched his old lady saunter our way.
“He’s is blissfully unaware of the Mateo-Eduardo situation.” He grinned.
“Do you know where she went?”
“I do,” his woman answered as she approached the table. “But first you and I need to chat before I tell you.”