CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Knight
The last thing I wanted to do was send that damn text. I had let her down enough in this lifetime and the fact that shit had to come up tonight, pissed me the fuck off. Sure, she understood that the club came first but that didn’t mean I wanted to disappoint her even a little. I just had to hope that this wouldn’t take long.
But as I stepped into the meeting room entrance, I got the heavy feeling that this wasn’t simply to catch up on everything.
“We got tension,” Iron said. “The Italians and the Irish.”
Fuck! That was the last thing we needed right now.
I wondered if this was what was weighing on Connor’s mind that day he came to the old shipping container yard. I wanted to ask how much of this was on us, but I already knew the answer. As well as an idea of what might be going on. There was just no way that we would have been able to come in here, carve out our corner of the underground world, and somehow not manage to rock the foundation of what had already been set up. It was a fool’s dream to think it would have gone smoothly.
The crime syndicates in the area had a very strange way of working together. The Italians provided protection to people and businesses but didn’t actually handle the grunt work if needed. No, they hired the Irish to pull the punches for them. That wasn’t to say the Italians didn’t know how to get their hands dirty or were afraid to. They just kept their energy for anything that was a threat or disrespect to the family.
The Italians didn’t deal in guns, so we didn’t work closely with them. With that said, we’d tried to be as friendly as possible. We’d agreed to stay out of each other’s business and kept it at that.
While we imported just about every type of firearm imaginable, we split the loads between us, the Irish, and the Russians. We mostly dealt with small firearms. The Irish handled the high powered automatics, while the Russians moved the heavy artillery like grenade launchers and sniper rifles.
I’d suspected that with the lack in security for incoming we now provided on the port, the Irish and Russians now had more of a flow for distribution. I could see how that could lead to the Irish wanting to move out on their own, untangle themselves from the Italians. It made sense for their organization but that didn’t mean that it made things easy for the rest of us. I had no doubt that if there was a rift, we would somehow get thrown in the middle. I was under no illusion that we would end up taking some of the blame for it, too.
“Right now, I just want to make everyone aware of it,” Iron continued on. “I know I called this meeting out of the blue, but I didn’t want any of you to be out of the loop for even a second. I haven’t heard anything about either one of them targeting us, but that doesn’t mean that might not change in the blink of an eye.”
After a long look around the table, he shook his head and changed gears.
“I think it’s time to patch up some prospects. I want everyone to take the next few days and decide who they want to put their votes behind. Got a few people that have come to me with interest in joining, so we may have a new batch of prospects to run through. I want numbers but I don’t want to sacrifice our trust in each other. If something doesn’t feel right, I want to know.”
We spent the next two hours going over everything. Security on the compound and the shipyard. The bar. The tattoo shop and all it’s little problems. The garage and how to make it better. We talked about the prospects, though we didn’t linger on that too much. Mostly, we spoke up on positive and negative things we had noticed or witnessed.
I would have liked to have said that I put my full focus into the meeting, but that wasn’t the case. While I was present and heard most of what was said, my mind kept drifting back to Gwen. No surprise there, right?
While there wasn’t immediate danger to the club there was still the possibility of a threat. I should have been thinking and planning for that. I should have been worrying about my brothers and the safety of everyone around me. But all I could think about was her and how my life had turned upside down in the last twenty-four hours.
Not to mention the fact that I felt like I still had to hide my feelings about her. At least until I talked to Brass. After that, well I honestly had no idea because I didn’t know how he was going to react. I figured it could go one of two ways. He would either beat the shit out of me for even thinking that I was good enough for his little girl, for wanting to keep her in this life knowing the danger, or he would welcome the idea with a man-hug and back slap.
I currently had three days and a handful of hours until I found out the outcome. Three fucking days was all I had to get my shit together and think of all the ways I could prove to him that I was the best man for her. The best one to look out for her and take care of her for the rest of our lives. Because, I had to face it, she was fucking it for me. There would be no one else if I couldn’t be with her. I knew for sure, because I tried like hell but that woman had a hold on my mind and heart like nothing else. And if I was being truly honest with myself, she always had.
The meeting broke and my head was a mess. I made my way downstairs with everyone else. My plan was to text Gwen and see if she was still up for hanging out.
Hanging out?
I wasn’t sure what to call it. I mean I wanted some alone time with her, but I also knew that alone time wouldn’t go any further than talking. Okay, if I was being honest, maybe some kissing, but that was all I would let happen. I didn’t even know how the night would end up. While I loved having her in my arms, I also knew it wasn’t a smart idea.
And then it hit me.
I suddenly was thinking like a fucking chick.
Was this what it was like for them? Obsessing over every little fucking thing? I mean, I tended to think deeply about shit, I wasn’t the surface level kind of guy, but I never freaked out about every little thing. I was always prepared for every possible outcome but I didn’t ever obsess at to what each one would mean. And that was exactly what I was doing right then.
Brand caught up with me as I hit the last step and pulled out my phone at the same time.
“I’ve got a new route mapped out and I wanted to go over it with you before the next run,” Brand said, falling in step with me.
“Shit,” I murmured. “There’s a run coming up soon, right?” Though it came out as a question, it really wasn’t. I knew there was.
We were transporting a pretty large shipment across the state to the head chapter. From there they would take care of splitting it up and selling it off. As road captain, Brand got the fun part of mapping out the path we would take. The fact that he wanted to go over it made me think that he had something different planned. Which was smart. If we took the same route every time it would leave us open for attacks. It was the same reason I never took the same way home two days in a row, even if I had to drive around my ass just to get there. Maybe it was me being overcautious, but it was also really fucking safe and when it came to my brothers’ lives, the safe plan was always the one I went with.
“Sounds good, just not tonight,” I said because I clearly had other things I wanted to do. It wasn’t that it didn’t matter, we had about a week before the run, as long as we went over it before we headed out that was all that mattered.
My body froze as I hit the opening to the common area. Her laughter hit my ears first, then like a magnet, my eyes locked with hers. What the hell was she doing here?
“You should be a little less obvious,” Brand murmured beside me as the back of his hand made contact with my chest.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I bit back under my breath.
With a sigh, he shook his head. I didn’t turn to look at him full on, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see the disappointed and almost broken look on his face.
“I’ve seen what can happen when two people love each other and do their best to push the other away,” he said in a low tone. I turned to him as I studied his face. His gaze was set on something over my shoulder, but I had a feeling like he wasn’t really focused on anything specific. “I’ve seen the way it can hurt and ruin the other person. Not to mention the casualties that get caught in between.”
I had a feeling that he knew all too well about being a causality in that type of situation. But before I could push for more, he shook himself out of his thoughts, gave me a hard pointed look that lasted long enough to make me feel uncomfortable, then walked off.
As much as I wanted to go to her, my first instinct was to scan my surroundings. I took in the full house and the madness that hung around the room. Too many brothers to count were scattered about, carrying on different conversations. Surprisingly, Sketch was tucked in the corner, watching much like I was. He was usually right in the middle of everything. As long as I’d known him, I hadn’t seen him shy away from a fun time. I mentally filed that away as I tried to follow his line of sight, but the place was just too packed for me to be able to make it out.
My eyes made contact with Gwen’s again. She sent me a half smile, one that let me know she was thinking the same thing I was only she wasn’t going to act on it. I respected the hell out of her right then but at the same time, hated that we both felt like we had to keep our distance.
Soon.
I just had to keep reminding myself of that. Soon. Or at least I hoped so, that soon we would be able to not give a fuck about anything and touch one another whenever we felt like it. That soon, I’d be in this very same room, full much like it was right now, and I’d be able to throw my arm around her, sending the unspoken message of mine to everyone that was around.
“So Gwen is kicking my ass,” Mouse called out over all the noise once he spotted me. “Come save me from further embarrassment.” He laughed as he held up his beer.
That right there told me we wouldn’t be able to sneak off unnoticed anytime soon. With a heavy sigh and a smile plastered on my face, I made my way over to the pool table and took over for Mouse. My eyes connected with Tara as Mouse made his way over to the couch, then flopped down on. I briefly wondered why she was here because it didn’t really seem like her kinda scene. Then I dismissed my own thoughts because, in truth, I didn’t know the girl all that well. My guess was that she brought Gwen here. And I knew Gwen well enough that she wouldn’t have been rude to her friend if she wanted to tag along and see the place. And I couldn’t deny that Tara had been hanging around more and more and that she had usually been around when the guys were over.
“Don’t miss.” Gwen’s voice and breath were suddenly in my ear as I leaned over the table to line up my shot.
“You doubt my skills, princess?” I asked as I cut my eyes over to her and raised a brow.
“Never,” she said in a knowing tone. Her eyes turned dark with lust and I sucked in a lungful of air in an attempt to calm myself.
Fuck!
If her intention was to shake me, then she sure did. Because right then, my mind wasn’t on the balls on the table. No, my mind was thinking what it would like to be balls deep inside her, fucking claiming her in every way possible.
Distance. That was what I needed. So, I took my shot, ignored how fucking good she smelled, and moved to the other side of the table. I had to remind myself that we were surrounded by other people as the game went on.
Once that game was over, with me losing so badly, I was done. And this time it wasn’t because I purposely let her win. I couldn’t concentrate while watching her bend over the table, her perfect ass up in the air, every time she lined up her shot. She seemed to linger longer than necessary, her perfect tits threatening to spill out of the deep V of her shirt. I was torn between wanting to see more and getting pissed off at everyone that was around to witness it.
B-ry stepped up and played when I bowed out. I flopped down on the couch next to Mouse and chatted with him. I tried my hardest to keep my eyes off of her, but it seemed like every few seconds they would drift her way. I could tell she was having the same problem. I only hoped that everyone around us was too wrapped up to notice.
Mouse got up to grab some more beers for everyone around us. I declined with a shake of my head. I would be driving soon and if luck had it, I’d be taking a blonde haired beauty with me. It was maybe the first time I was actually glad that she had moved in with me. And not the strained, I-can’t-get-away-from-her-but-also-want-to-touch-her, kind of way.
“Well, I’m done,” Gwen said with a laugh.
I looked at the table and saw that B-ry had kicked her ass that round.
“I need to get home. Bed. Sleep. Early class and all that fun stuff,” she said and though she was joking, I could see that she was a bit worn out.
I imagined, like me, she hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep the previous night. Before she’d come into my room, it had been hours of trying to forget that kiss we’d shared in the kitchen. Hours of tossing and turning and punching my damn pillow like it was the problem for my restlessness.
“Yeah, I’m tired too,” Tara said from the other end of the couch. “I’ll take you home.”
“That’s okay,” I practically barked as I got to my feet with lightning speed. “I got her. I’m headed out now.”
If I hadn’t been looking I would have missed the flash of anger in Tara’s eyes. But it was gone in a blink and she smiled at me and nodded as if to say it was fine. However, I got the feeling it wasn’t.
I shook it off and waved my goodbyes.
Outside, Tara lingered for a bit, seeming unsure of letting Gwen climb onto my bike behind me. She only settled herself behind the wheel of her car when Gwen reassured her, for the third time, that she would be fine. Gwen climbed on wrapped her arms around me like it was the most natural thing, and pressed her face to my back. I took off without even waiting for Tara to start her car. Rude? Maybe, yeah. But it wasn’t like she was in any danger. I trusted my brothers and I knew it wouldn’t be but mere seconds before she was taking off herself.