Rubbing the blood on my fingers off on my shirt, I sighed. “Mackenzie and Colton are right. You’re going to make it so no one wants to come around here anymore. You’re damned lucky we love you because there isn’t a person we know who says it’s smart to visit. You’re making it impossible to defend you.”
His face went red, and I backed up to stand near Nic. She patted my shoulder and gave me a grin.
“Don’t threaten me.” A cloud of spittle rained from Nonno’s general direction, and I was glad I’d moved. “You can’t tell me you’re taking away my family.”
“Me? You can’t do these things tous. You don’t gotta like Mackenzie, but you do have to stop making Trav feel like shit about something that isn’t his fault. He likes men. That’s it. If you actually forced him to marry someone, which you can’t anyway, you’d be making two people miserable.”
Nonno’s face contorted and his mouth twisted down. “He gets between the legs this girl has and he’ll forget all about that man.”
Nic sighed. “Nonno, that’s not how any of that works. What if I told you, all you needed was a hot guy and you’d like dick? You think it works that way?”
“I can’t believe the trash coming out of your mouth.” Nonno wiped at his lips with the back of his hand, eyes wide.
“Same here. I can’t believe the man I grew up thinking was a giant is such a pissant.” She stomped the heel of her boot on the tile and it was loud. “You love him. I know you do. Act like it.”
He started toward Nic, but I put myself between them, and he threw up his hands. “Bah!”
Nic grabbed my elbow and tugged, and we retreated out to the front porch of Nonno’s quaint house. No one would believe the things that went on inside. Everyone loved Nonno in his neighborhood because he edged his lawn and did the same for the neighbors on both sides every second Sunday, he brought the whole street cookies during the holidays, and he would never say a mean word to a stranger. No, that was reserved for us.
“I should go back in,” I grumbled. Nic took a package of tissues out of the teeny purse slung across her chest and handed one to me. I nodded in thanks, and she laughed when I shoved pieces up both sides of my nose.
“Come on, let’s go. Travis wouldn’t want you hurt.” She stared at the door. “Has he always been like this?” She frowned and looked at me. I didn’t have it in me to tell her how many times he’d beaten me black and blue.
“Travis trusts me to take care of this.”
She walked down off the porch to our bikes where they were parked in the spotless gray driveway. “You did. You told Nonno to lay off and it wasn’t happening.”
Feeling irritable, I followed her. Blood dripped out of my nose around the tissues and down onto my shirt, but it was black, so I didn’t care much. “How does he always fucking hit me right in the nose? How does he manage it?”
“Luck,” she said with a shrug and straddled her bike. Well, technically she was on my bike, but I’d come to terms with the fact that she was never, ever giving it back. The sunshine glinted off her makeup and made her extra beautiful, not that she needed the help.
I checked the time on my phone and groaned. Scar was working today from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. or until his boss, Benny, dragged him into his house for dinner and closed up shop. Benny was a good guy and would pay him for the full shift, though. I ran a hand down my face. It was already after ten and I’d never get home in time to see him off. I stared at the time, then brought up King’s number.
Charley:Can I have a day job? Anything? Scar and I never see each other anymore.
King:? What the fuck?
I explained the situation a little better, and King sent back a thumbs-up, but that could mean anything from “sure kid” to “go fuck yourself,” depending on his mood. I was hoping it was a good one and he would actually help me out because I was tired of barely seeing my boyfriend when we were both awake and functional.
Nic let out a squeal from the back of her bike that nearly shocked ten years off my life. “Yes!”
“What is it?” I slapped my chest to make sure my heart was still ticking. “Fuck.”
She beamed at me. “The Harlots? Their queen, Sapphira? She said if I spend the next three months running messages for her, and I do a good job, she’ll sponsor me as a prospect for her club. Can you believe it? She met me when I went on the Lake Run. Her and some of her girls rode there that weekend.”
My mouth fell open. “Shit, I didn’t even realize you were trying to do anything like that.” My stomach sank as I stared at her happy face. Should I try to talk her out of it? The Harlots were no better than the Kings, as in, the life wasn’t safe.
She flushed a pretty pink and stuck out her tongue at me, shimmying around in a victory dance. “I love riding and… I don’t know. You seem happy.”
I hung my head. “I always sort of thought you’d go to school or marry some rich guy or something.”
She reached over and slapped my arm so hard it stung. “I can still do that. The club won’t stop me. Does yours stop you from doing what you want to do?”
I glanced up and squinted at her, thinking. Was I happy in the club? I used to be. “I’d have never met Scar without the Kings, but I met Scar inprison.” I glanced up at the blue sky and the white fluffy clouds overhead. “There are risks. You better weigh them before you commit. Once you’re in, you’re always in.” I shrugged. “It’s for me, but it’s not for everyone.”
She nodded seriously and her mouth thinned. With that expression on her face, she reminded me a lot of Travis, and I felt protective. But she was smart, and she’d do well with anything she tried.
“Okay, cousin.” She patted her bike, almost like it was for luck. “I hear what you’re saying. I’ll take the time to make sure I’m ready.”
