“What shall we do with Nixie?” He asked as he kissed the top of her head, and passed her back to Rocket, and that bastard looked right at me. He thought he was sending the little lady home with the pup? Fuck that.
“I’ll take her, but I’m coming with you.”
Rocket groaned. “Kinda defeats the object, V. I don’t want either of you near this.”
I shrugged, reaching out to take her warm little body from him.
“Just as well you don’t always get what you want, dickhead.”
“Definitely like her,” Has-Been muttered, as we left the pub, and headed toward our vehicles.
Chapter Ten
Taking any woman tothe place where club justice was playing out was pretty much a no-no, except for maybe Ryder taking Tori along, since she was about as dangerous as any of us. Jamie would be just as deadly, but she was still mostly law abiding, so I doubted Grease would bring her, in fact, I hoped he wouldn’t bring himself either. I doubted I’d be that fucking lucky though.
I never planned for V to be with us, but the damn woman had managed to keep pace with us as we headed to warehouse on our rides. See, this is the thing about going to do something illegal. You ride sensibly, because you don’t want to attract attention. That meant it was easy for her to follow us, and park her cage alongside the fucking motorcycles and vans parked up outside. If it wasn’t so fucking quiet here, I’d worry about the spectacle we were making, right where anyone could see.
“V, please, don’t fucking come in here. You’re not gonna…”
I trailed off as I watched my damn brother. Has was staring at the closed door, his hands smoothing over his cut almost fuckingobsessively, like he was steeling himself for what was about to happen. I hadn’t asked what the deal was, but there were few things that could scar a person like this, so I was starting to suspect what his deal was. If what I was imagining… fuck me… if they did what I was suspecting, then they deserved hours or days of fucking agony.
“I might be needed,” V hissed at me, her arms wrapped around Nixie as she too focused on Has, on his breathing, which became more ragged by the second.
“I don’t think he needs an audience in this moment, for fuck’s sake.”
Has groaned, and turned to look at us, his eyes wide and tortured.
“Actually, you two bitching at each other is helping a bit. I need to be fucking strong right now, and I feel like I’m failing. The… facing those fuckers is…” he glanced behind him at the door again, as a shudder ran through him, “I never thought this moment would come, and now…” he trailed off, turning to face us again.
“Brother, they’re not getting out alive, but if you need to not be there, that’s okay.”
He sucked in another ragged breath, and shook his head. “No. I… I need to. I do. I need to see them pay… need to see them leave this fucking Earth, and know it’s safe. For… for everyone.”
Fuck. Just how many people had these cunts harmed like this?
V stepped closer to him, passing Nixie back to him.
“Give yourself a moment, Has-Been. Nothing happens until you’re ready.”
I stared at her, wondering how the fuck she was so… so integrated into this deeply intimate situation, and making sense. She was probably better for helping him in this moment than me. I was struck dumb and useless by how the night had turned, and my lack of knowledge, coupled with my inability to offerany kind of emotional support, left me unsure of what to say in this moment. She was offering him what I couldn’t, and I was grateful to her, while desperate to keep her from seeing whatever happened next. I probably wouldn’t personally get to deal out any physical form of justice, although I really fucking wanted to, for my brother, for Has-Been, but whether I did or didn’t, what happened in this building would be life changing for everyone inside.
“I uh… fuck. I can’t…” Has passed Nixie back to her, and scrunched his eyes closed, his fists in front of his chest as he took a few deep breaths. “I… fuck, I’m such a pussy.”
“You’re not. Whatever someone did to you, that doesn’t make you weak. Facing any kind of trauma head on is the hardest thing you’ll do,” V told him, while again I wondered what use I was.
“Want me to punch you?” I offered in the end, because that was all I was good for. A thug. A meat-head. Muscle without brains. The brawn. That’s what they all saw, right?
V gasped and slapped my arm, but Has’s eyes shot open and fixed on me.
“Fuck, yes,” he breathed, moving closer to me, apparently needing some kind of physical fucking reset button.
“I’m doing this because I love ya, man.” I drew my fist back and slammed it forward, smashing into his face, catching his cheek rather than fully on his nose, and let’s be honest, it was probably the gentlest punch of my life, but it rocked him a little and he grinned at me as he rubbed his cheekbone.
“Elise hits harder than you, man.” I grinned back, feeling the balance resettle a little as I flipped him off.
“She probably loves you more,” I murmured, catching V as she stepped in his direction. Despite her instincts in this moment, touching Has was the wrong move.
Has took a deep breath, clenched his fists as let out a shrill whoop of stress relief, and nodded at us.
