We wait another ten minutes before the door opens again. Someone barges out and two people follow after, laughing their asses off. Snapper sits up straight.
“That’s him.”
I note the lights are still on inside the building. This isn’t a known biker bar, and it doesn’t seem to be affiliated with anyone else either. That doesn’t mean whoever’s working won’t come out with a shotgun, prepared to kill to stop a fight. People outhere are crazy. But we came here to do a job, and we’re going to do it. We open the doors at the same time, and I don’t miss the glint of metal in Snapper’s back pocket.
The guys across the lot are too drunk to notice we’re even here. Which is a rookie fucking move.
When you spend your life doing shitty things and pissing people off, you should always be aware of your surroundings. You never know when someone is hiding in the shadows, waiting to get revenge.
We’re too close by the time they see us. One guy is already at his car, quite a few spots away.
“Yo, what the fuck!” Gunner shouts, causing the guy he’s with, who was lighting a cigarette, to look up. I throw my fist into his face before he can say another word.
His friend shouts, but Snapper gets him with the taser, because we don’t fuck with guns. Heavy feet pound on the pavement, but Snapper is waiting for him when he reaches us too.
Gunner is groaning on the ground, his face full of blood.
The other guy falls to the ground too, not far away.
“Fucking pathetic,” I mutter, glancing at Snapper. “I was hoping for a fight.”
He just shrugs, nudging one of the guys with his boot. “Save it for later, I suppose.”
I use my foot to spread Gunner’s legs open, and Snapper pulls his foot back, going in for the shot. He gets him right in the nuts. Gunner screeches, tears pouring down his face.
“What a little bitch,” I say as I lean down to yank him up by his shirt. He doesn’t help, and I have to pick his ass up and throw him over my shoulder fireman-style to bring him to my truck.
“You stain my shirt, you’re gonna pay for that too,” I mutter as I toss him into the back. Snapper is already in there, waiting with the rope to hog tie him. He gets it done in record time, and aswe peel out of the parking lot, whoever was in the bar comes out, yelling some shit and checking on the guys on the ground.
Probably should have killed them all, too, just to be safe.
Chapter Forty
Anastacia
The house is dark, quiet, and chilly in a way that makes me uncomfortable. It’s an old house with drafty windows and doors, but when Grizz is here, I don’t notice any of it.
Somehow, even though Tommy and Kelsey are upstairs, the house feels empty… hollow.
I can just about make out the snowflakes coming down by the dim porch light. It’s been snowing for hours, and though I’ve always loved the snow, especially watching it fall, I don’t like it tonight. Tonight I feel… empty.
Dorothea has been sleeping for about an hour, and I expect she’ll wake soon. I should try to get some sleep, since it’s late into the night, but I don’t think I could sleep if I tried.
My leg is starting to cramp from the way I’m sitting on the couch, staring out the front window, but I don’t want to move.What I feel now is too close to what I feltthen.And though my life now is nothing compared to that, I think it’s a reflex. My body’s way of shielding me from pain.
Because I do think this is going to hurt. It’s been hurting. Until today it’s spilling over a little, and I’m unable to ignore it.
I’m not sure how long it is before tires crunch along the snow-covered driveway and the headlights shine into the window. My heart does a flip, but not out of joy.
I’m relieved he’s home, but I’m sick to my stomach about what this means.
He’s been gone every night, late into the night, for the past couple of weeks.
He says it’s club stuff, but then why is Tommy never there? Why does Tommy know nothing about what he’s doing?
Sure, he’s new, and maybe this is how things go, but Tommy is Grizz’s brother… you’d think he’d tell him something. Or you’d at least think he’d tellmesomething. But all he does is avoid my questions. Leave after dinner. Tell me he’ll be back soon. And he comes home at… I glance at my phone. Nearly two in the morning.
I don’t know much about Grizz before he met me, but I can guess how he was. I’ve heard jokes and stories, though never said directly to me. Whenever I’m at the club with him and the baby, I see the way they look at us and then make remarks behind my back to him about how he’s finally settled down and is done with the fun life. I know they’re men, and I know they’re joking and giving him shit, but there’s truth to it. I try not to be offended or jealous, because what’s the point? They’re just being guys and they don’t mean disrespect. They’re just kind of dumb sometimes. But this? Staying out late. Being secretive.
