I didn’t move. I just stood there, chest heaving and staring at the tools on the floor. Seven didn’t speak either. Hell, there wasn’t anything he could say that I wasn’t already thinking myself.
I loved my brother. I always had and always would. But he’d crossed a line. A huge, blaring-red line no man should ever cross. There was no coming back from that.
Not now. Not ever.
Seven turned to me, and his face was void of expression as he said, “You gotta know he can’t walk away from this untouched. Your brother or not, he tried to steal from us… The club’s going to want their pound of flesh.”
The silence stretched between us.
“We can take it now, or we can take it later…”
“Do it now.”
He gave me a nod, then slapped my shoulder and walked out of the office. Davis had no idea what was coming, but I did. Each of the brothers would take their turn, beating the ever-loving hell out of him.
A small piece of me felt bad for him.
But a bigger piece knew he had it coming.
It’s hard to face the fact that blood doesn’t always equal family. It sure didn’t for me and Davis. I was done hoping that we’d ever be more than strangers with the same last name. Davis had made sure of that.
12
PRESLEY
“And what did you say the loan was for?”
“It’s all there in the proposal.” I motioned my hand toward the file. “We want to make some renovations at the shop. You know… New paint. New sinks. New flooring.”
“So, this is strictly for the shop?”
“Yes.”
“Then, why isn’t Claire here?” Gary asked, sounding overly skeptical. “She’s the owner.”
“She wanted to, but she’s already overextended.”
“With what?”
“I don’t know. I’m not in charge of her finances.”
“I see.”
He looked down at my paperwork and sighed. I used the moment of quiet to count numbersI’d already counted a hundred times.
We’d gotten five thousand for the ring, seventeen thousand for the Jackie Robinson baseball card, twenty-one thousand for my car, and another ten thousand for all the odds and ends I’dpawned off. Lila Kate had managed to come up with another eighteen thousand, which left us thirty thousand short.
I didn’t think it would be a huge deal.
I had decent credit and had never faltered on a payment, but that didn’t stop Gary from saying, “I could probably get you approved for ten, but there is no way I can give you the full thirty.”
“That won’t work. I need thirty or…”
My words trailed off, and of course, he noticed.
“Or what?”
“Are you going to give me the loan or not?”
