He folds his arms across his chest. “It’s in the past. And I didn’t call because I didn’t want you running back here. Or Mom. Once I was in the clear, Axe called Jimmy and told him what went down. I figured he’d tell you if he thought you should know. Guess he didn’t.”
“Andyoudidn’t think I should know?”
“Jimmy decides what information gets passed to you, Gracie. You want to yell at someone, call up your old man and have it out with him.”
Right. Jimmy decides. It’s been like that since the moment hedecidedto claim me as his daughter. There’s no arguing with him, only understanding how to handle him.
So maybe I get it. Club business is club business. But Jack is my family. The idea of him lying in a hospital bed, or worse, in a fucking morgue, and having no idea? Yeah, screw that. Jack should have told me.
“This isn’t about my dad,” I argue. “This is about you and me. Not telling me was a choice. I’m your sister. When the hell did you stop giving a shit about that?”
“Itwasa choice,” he says sharply. “But you want to talk about keeping secrets, then why don’t you tell me about what happened in that cell the night you got into town? You get thrown around and then a cop puts his hands on youlike that, and you don’t say anything? What the hell is that about? Why did I have to hear it from Axe?”
I clench my jaw. “Like I told your prez. That was my story to tell, and I chose to keep it to myself. Which is my right.”
“Just like I have my own story that I chose not to tell. Just because you’re my sister doesn’t mean?—”
His words die, his expression turning pained.
“That I’m your family?”
He drags his hand down his face and sighs. “I wasn’t gonna say that.”
There’s always been a cold distance between me and Axe, but it was such a contrast to my relationship with Jack. Axe was Jimmy’s son. The take-no-shit future Sinner prez. But Jack? He was my brother. All the shit with the club was second in my mind.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “It’s all good, Jack. You’re… you’re right. We’re definitely not family.”
Silence falls, the air charged with anger and resentment. At some point during the last ten years, the person I looked up to, adored, trusted—the man I knew would protect me, always—became a stranger. We both let it happen, but Jack seems set on keeping it that way.
He clears his throat, his features shifting into some emotion I can’t quite place. “Gracie?—”
“We’re good, Jack. I’d like to get working on my bike. So I should…” I motion to the door behind him leading into the shop.
Head lowered, my bloody, bruised-up brother steps to the side and lets me pass without another word.
The shop is closed on Sundays, so the usual noise and clatter are missing today. No metal on metal, no buzz of power tools or low hum of a radio that’s been stuck on the same channel since Jimmy opened the place decades ago. Other than the odd clang coming from the far door leading down into the Sinner gym, the place is silent.
Only the stone-faced Sinner prez is present. Arms crossed and deep in thought as he inspects the beautiful motorcycle in front of him.Mymotorcycle. He only notices me when I drop my bag on the floor at his feet.
“You’re lucky I don’t clock you one for driving this without asking,” I say as I run a hand over my machine.
He arches a brow. “Jimmy released your bike tome.You’re lucky you’re getting it back at all.”
I scowl. A punishment for my defiance. Obviously my father hasn’t fully forgiven me for my visit to my hometown. “It’smybike.”
“Technically, it’s Jimmy’s bike.” He faces me head-on.
“So, what, then? You’re holding it hostage? Gonna make sure Ibehavebefore you give it back?”
The Sinner prez throws me a look. “Dial back the attitude, Gracie. It’s a nice ride. Wanted to take it for a spin, is all. Test it out. I don’t trust anything that’s been in police custody,” he says. “You can have it back once we do a mechanical. Gotta make sure everything’s where it’s supposed to be. No doubt the cops stripped it to the bones. Graves will get to it sometime this week.”
“I’m the only one who touches this bike.” I kneel down and dig a small box out of my bag. “And to be clear, if we’d picked this up together,you’dhave been the one riding on the back.”
“That would have been one hell of an argument.” He snorts. “I’m serious, Grace. I want a real mechanic to look it over before you even think about jumping on it. Something don’t work as it should, and you get hurt, my old man will have my fucking head. Already chewed me the fuck out on the phone this morning for not calling him the second you got into town.”
I plug a small antenna into my RF detector and then flick on the device. “I’m sure you’ll recover.” I give him a disgustingly sweet smile. “And I may not be a real mechanic, but I worked in Jimmy’s shop out east for five years. I know what I’m doing.”
He nods to the device in my hand. “Where the hell did you get that thing?”
