I relaxed a little seeing Archer there. He was a man of his word as far as I could tell. He had proved that much to me when he dropped me off at the gas station.
“Dinner’s almost ready, Zodiac.” I looked over to see a woman in her forties standing there. She had shorter blonde hair that was starting to show hints of silver throughout. She was wearing a pair of black ripped jeans and a plain red shirt that stretched tight across her chest. She was beautiful, and she offered me a sweet, welcoming smile.
“What are we having tonight, dear?”
“Spaghetti, it’s the easiest to cook for everyone.”
I almost moaned out loud at the smells coming from what I gathered to be the kitchen. “Damn, I haven’t had spaghetti in so long,” I said, trying to cover up the fact that my stomach was growling at me audibly. It sounded so loud that I was sure the whole club could hear.
“Well, you’re in luck, son. Liberty is the best cook out of everyone who lives here.”
“You all live here?” I asked, knowing damn well wasn’t any business of mine where these people lived, let alone slept.
“A lot of us do, but others, like Scales and Archer, have homes away from the clubhouse.”
Zodiac led me into the kitchen, where there was a huge island big enough to seat seven. He grabbed a chair and motioned for me to take a seat. I skipped one chair because the man was huge and built like the freaking Hulk.
Archer grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it to the side of the island, straddling it backward. He was intentionally giving me space and not crowding me in. I liked that about him. It was as if he could read my social cues calling for people to keep out of my bubble.
The woman they called Liberty, filled a plate with spaghetti, and set it in front of Zodiac. He didn’t reach for a fork. Instead, he pushed the plate over to me.
It was a small act of kindness, and instead of being grateful, I felt my suspicions rise. Nobody does shit without getting something out of it in return. What did the Celestial Sons want as payment?
“Have at it, Kid.”
I hesitated briefly before diving into the plate of spaghetti. My stomach was so empty after a few days with only scraps to eat. The rich and heavy food would probably make me sick, but I inhaled it anyway. I wasn’t sure when I would get the opportunity to eat again.
“So, tell me about yourself, Dillon. How did you end up in a cardboard box behind our clubhouse? What made you think this was the best place for you to set up your house?”
I shrugged around a mouthful of pasta and reached for the bottled water that was placed by my plate to wash it down. “It seemed like the safest place for me to go. The cops and Artillery are out looking for me, and if I hid out here behind your clubhouse, then they would be less likely to find me.”
Zodiac and Archer exchanged a look. “Why are the cops looking for you?”
“Something about them thinking I was directly involved in that woman’s accident. I wasn’t, by the way. I just heard the crash and came running. When I saw it was her, I felt like I needed to help in some way.”
Zodiac nodded. “Thank you for that. It’s because of you that we knew about the severed brake lines on her car. Although, the sheriff’s office said that in order for her car to lose braking power the way it did, all four would’ve had to be cut.”
“That’s right. I only looked at one tire, though. I didn’t have time for anything else.”
I shoveled some more spaghetti into my mouth. Damn, it tasted so good. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a home cooked meal, if ever. The boys’ home cooked cheap, easy meals that fed us, but none of it was homemade. Our last foster parents weren’t cooks either, so it was way before the Sinclair’s.
The men stared at me with the strangest look before Zodiac opened his mouth to ask me the one question I was worried they would ask.
“So, why is the Artillery after you?”
Chapter Fourteen
The moment of truth.
Do I trust the Celestial Sons enough to tell them about Joey? All I wanted was to get her out of the hands of the Artillery and try to start a life somewhere far away from Rising Star and the memories that haunted us in this small, godforsaken town.
“Because they have my sister and didn’t like the fact that I tried to bargain for her.”
“What do you mean, they have your sister?” Archer asked, his back ramrod straight and his shoulders stiff, almost like he was preparing for a fight.
“She’s a couple of years older than me and graduated out of the system before I did. We lost touch, and when I got out, I went looking for her. I found her drugged up at a party, being thrown around like a used sex toy. When I went to take her out of there, they attacked me, then brought me to Beretta, who told me that if I wanted my sister, I’d have to do something for them.”
“What did he have you do?”
