Chapter 1
Not Your Problem
Thunder
“He isn’t your damn problem,” I boomed, picking a fight I had no chance of winning. I should have let it go, but Gerry always got under my skin. Holding back my anger only worked for so long. The only difference—this was the first time Liz had been in the blast zone. My lips parted, getting ready to apologize, but the words didn’t form. She would have seen right through them.
The rehab facility’s glass doors opened, and I pictured Gerry walking out of our lives. Instead, a volunteer in pink scrubs pushed an older man in a wheelchair. The lucky bastard wasn’t Gerry. Balloons bobbed over his head as the wheels hit every crack in the sidewalk.
An SUV pulled into the semicircular drive, stopping right in front of the man. His family jumped out, rushing to help him into the passenger seat. They hugged, and although I couldn’t hear their words, excitement showed on their faces. If it had been Gerry, I would have driven off, leaving him standing there. “You don’t have to keep visiting him when he’s a selfish bastard.”
She sat too straight, hands clasped in her lap. I fucking despised it, knowing what it had cost her.
“You’re too smart to believe Gerry’s fucking bullshit. He sacrificed you, Liz, hoping it would save his sorry ass.” I’d pushed one too many times, and the words no longer held any meaning as they hung heavily inside the car’s cabin.
“You don’t…under—“ She fought to push the word past her trembling lips.
I knew exactly where she was looking without following her gaze. She stared out the windshield, watching the rehab facility’s glass doors close behind the volunteer.
“So, explain it to me.” I’d told her I didn’t care how long it took to find the right words. I’d sit waiting patiently, but we’d been here so many times before that she had stopped trying.
“No…words.” She fiddled with the expensive strand of pearls around her neck, quickly smoothing the collar of the cream blouse she wore. Seeing her like this now felt like watching someone else play dress-up.
If I continued to force the issue, she’d only shut down further, and I didn’t need to pile more shit on top. Gerry wasn’t easy to deal with, and she was still healing from her own health battles.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
I swallowed, taking a moment. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Bad shit happens to good people all the time. It’s how you move on that matters the most.”
“I know. I…owe…them,” she sighed, finally facing me head-on. “Grace…Mer…happy…”
I couldn’t step in to protect Liz from these visits. If I did, I’d have to explain Gerry’s irritability to Sabre and Grizz. “He’s their father.” It was my turn to sigh. “You take all the heat he has to throw at you, putting your own progress at risk.”
“Don’t under…stand.” A small tear slid down her cheek. “Des…troy…them.” She coughed, taking a sip of the water she carried everywhere. “Can’t let…happen.”
“You don’t give them enough credit. Flo holds her own every time she talks to Gerry. She doesn’t give in to his demands. Meredith is even stronger. I doubt she’d let him tear her apart. There’s a reason we call her Buster.”
She shook her head. “Happy…”
I snapped, “So, you should be miserable? That’s a fucking joke.”
Liz huffed, reaching for the door handle. She paused, turning back around. “I was…happy.” Another tear slid down her cheek, but neither of us reached up to wipe it away. “I broke.” The car door shut with a soft click, and I watched her until she disappeared behind the glass.
I’d missed the guilt eating her alive.
The passenger door opened, and B slid into the seat Liz had just vacated. I didn’t even get a minute to wallow in self-pity. “What did you say to Aunt E? She swiped at her eye.”
“You want your patch? Don’t question me.” I was being a dick, but I didn’t need this conversation leaving the confines of the car. The MC gossiped more than a bunch of schoolgirls. If B told the other prospects, one of them would eventually tell Flo. Liz’s nieces were as protective over her as she was them, and Flo would swing at me before Sabre even had a chance.
“I’m not telling you what to do, but dude, if you’re going to win her over, making her cry isn’t it. Have you tried to make her scream?” I shot him a look, and he threw his hands up in defense.
“I’m going to pretend you haven’t been to bed yet and you’re talking out of your ass,” I said. Fucker had balls.
B pretended to yawn. “Yup. You caught me, Thunder.” The prospects had drawn the shit job, rotating surveillance shifts. Diego Lopez was gone, but no one in the club believed Gerry was completely innocent. In fact, we were all waiting for the next round of cartel to come knocking again.
I ignored him, but if he persisted, I would bring it up when they discussed his patch. “News?”
He stretched in the chair. “I think I’m being watched.” B hesitated, scanning the lot before he continued. “I normally park in the same spot, but when I thought I was being tailed, I moved around. It doesn’t matter where I park or how hidden I am, I feel like someone’s waiting.”
