"Don't call her that," I spat. The words were out before I could even stop them.
Kade held his hands up. "Sorry, thought she was just a fuck toy."
The words grated on me like fucking road burn. "It doesn't matter what she was. It's over anyway."
"She killed a guy for you, and you dumped her ass. That's classic." He tipped his beer to me, and I took another drag from my cigarette.
"I didn't dump her ass. She just realized that this world wasn't cushy like the one she was used to."
I looked across the bar, remembering her words just before she got in Sienna's car and disappeared from my life.
"This life isn't for the weak."
"That's just it. She wasn't weak. All the fucking girls that hang around here are. They aren't strong enough to walk away."
"This girl got to your fucking head, didn't she?" Kade asked.
In more ways than I would ever admit. I wasn't some pussy who talked about his feelings, though. I had already said too much. "Doesn't matter," I muttered. "It was over before it started."
A loud painful sounding scream came from the other side of the clubhouse. Me and Kade jumped to our feet, and headed over to Miles and the doc. Hudson was right behind us. "What's going on?" I asked.
The doc pulled out the bullet, or what was left of it, and dropped it into a cup. "Wasn't as straight as we thought it was. There's a few fragments, but it's probably best if I leave them."
"Will it do any damage to leave them?" Kade asked.
The doc shook his head. "I can actually cause more damage if I try to fish them out. It's possible they can work their way to the surface on their own. Could be weeks, or even years. Once they surface, they can be removed with a local anesthetic, but, considering he just went through this with nothing more than a leather belt to bite down on, I doubt he would need an anesthetic."
"Let them fucking stay. Gives me more of an edge," Miles joked, though I had no idea how he even had that in him. He looked like fucking hell. His eyes were so damn red I was waiting for blood to pour out of them.
"You'll need to keep it clean and dry." The doc handed me a prescription. "He'll need to take this antibiotic twice a day. Even if he starts feeling better, he needs to finish the damn bottle. Don't want to risk an infection. It's best if he doesn't drink on them."
"Fuck that!" Miles called out as he brought the bottle of Jack to his mouth.
Kade ripped it from his hand. "Too fucking bad. You're no good to us dead."
"If he develops a fever, chills, feels faint, has shortness of breath, or severe chest or abdominal pain, or if the wound gets red and swollen or develops pus, he needs to go to the ER. It means he has an infection and, if not treated properly, it could kill him."
"Got it," I said. I patted the doc on the back. "We appreciate your help tonight."
The doc looked at my hand like I was smearing shit all over his nice shirt. "After tonight, I'm done. I did more than my fair share. I'm done with you and this club. I am not risking everything I have built for a bunch of criminals. I have one last obligation to you, and I will fulfill it, but then I'm done." He had determination in his stance and fire in his eyes. Too bad it didn't mean shit.
"I already told you, doc. As long as you want us to keep your secret, you're shit out of luck. So, you better get real fucking comfortable with us criminals because we're about to be lifelong friends."
"Friends?" he scoffed as he packed up his shit. He grabbed his bag, and looked me square in the eye. "Over my dead body."
I pulled out my Glock, and held it to his head. His body froze in fear, and I let him shake in his expensive shoes for a moment. Slowly, I lowered the gun. "Watch what you wish for, Doc, because I've been known to make dreams come true."
"You're out of your goddamned mind," he growled.
"I'm just doing what I have to do … just like you." I stepped toward him until we were eye to eye. "See, doc, me and you aren't much different."
"I'm nothing like you," he seethed.
"You can think you're better than me, but we both know that's far from the truth. You might not be a criminal in the same sense as me, but that doesn't change the fact that you have broken the law. And not just once. On numerous occasions. Either one of us gets caught for the crimes we've committed, we'd both be facing life behind bars. So, go ahead and act like I'm beneath you, because, when judgment day comes, we're both fucked."
His jaw ticked with rage, but he didn't say a fucking word because he knew I was right. He hiked his bag on his shoulder and pushed by me. "We're through here."
"Guess we are," I said and, as he stormed out into the night, I added, "I'll see you in hell, doc."
Cash
The Hill Foundation's Paws for a Cause was a bi-yearly event the club ran to show the good citizens of Black Hills that we weren't the bad guys. People fucking loved animals, and guys with dogs made woman melt. It was a perfect front for us.
We invited a bunch of the rich folk in the area to give donations and raise money for the local animal shelter. It was a no-kill joint on the south side of town that rescued dogs from puppy mills and scumbag breeders. There was an abundance of pits, and the shelter was hoping to get a few adopted today.
It was held in the parking lot of Tavern.
Kade and I made our rounds, making sure nothing looked suspicious. We passed by Dice and Beast who were flirting up one of the shelter volunteers, a blonde that looked like she wasn't even fucking legal yet. Those two fucks were going to get their asses thrown in jail for statutory rape if they kept it up.
Kade smacked my chest and pointed across the way to Phil. He stood off to the side of his old lady, who was currently surrounded by dogs. Poor bastard swore up and down he wasn't taking home another one. Every damn year, his old lady left with a dog like it was just another trip to the store. They were up to five fucking mutts at their house, and this would make six.
"So much for it's never going to happen!" I yelled out to Phil, and he gave me a death glare. He shook his head and lit a cigarette while his old lady picked up a yapper.
"Ten bucks says he goes home with one," Kade said, holding his hand out.
"Make it twenty, and I say he goes home with not one but two." We shook on it and watched Phil and his old lady for a few more minutes before moving on.
"There's the doc," Kade said, nodding his head over to a booth where they were selling hotdogs and funnel cake, but my attention was drawn to the booth beside it. I almost didn't believe my goddamned eyes.
There, in white shorts and a yellow top, was my Sunshine. Fury spread through my veins as my eyes landed on that fucking prick I knocked out that first night we met. His hand rested on her lower back, and I wanted to fucking break it off.
I might not have deserved her, but she sure as hell deserved better than some polo shirt wearing douche bag. Everything about him pissed me off from his overly starched pants to that fucking pussy ass haircut. I wanted to knock that fucking smirk of his face, and break a few of his overly white teeth in the process.
He turned toward her, his other hand reaching up and taking a cup out from her grasp. He sipped out of her straw, and anger surged through my veins. She took the drink back, and he said something that made them both laugh.
The bastard took it as his opportunity to drape his arm across her shoulders. She rested her head against him, and something inside of me snapped. We decided that my world wasn't safe for her, but I didn't push her away so she could land in the arms of that fucking prick. He might be able to provide her with a big house, and all the fucking shit she wanted, but there was no way in fucking hell I was going to let that happen.
If she wanted him, she would have chosen him that night, but she chose me. She walked away from him and got on the back of my bike. I'd be fucking damned if I was going to let her go back to the thing she ran away from.
I was about to storm over there and throw her over my shoulder. Take her far away from that shithead, find the nearest place where I could stick my cock inside her, and remind her of what I could give her. Who needed money when I could fuck her stupid and make her come like a goddamned geyser? But, Nick walked in front of us, halting me in place.
"We have company," he said, and I focused my attention to where he nodded. On the far side of the street, there was a car with three guys leaning against it. Their arms were crossed over their chests, looking like they were waiting to cause trouble.