A long string of curses comes from Spark, then he explains, “I told him to let it go. I swear to God, I sat him down and told him it was over, that going back to Cedar Falls for any reason was off the table. He said he understood, that he would steer clear of it. He lied to my face.”
“Then you’ve got a big problem on your hands,” Jinx says bluntly.
“We signed a surrender with you in good faith, Spark. Three days later your own brother breaks it. That’s on you now. Calling the police department rather than resorting to club justice was a mercy. You either get your house in order, or I don’t dispense mercy twice for the same offense.”
A short silence spins out and then my brother states quietly, “I understand. Brave made his bed and almost took our whole club down with him. I won’t bail him out, and I’ll make damn sure nobody else does either. You have my word,” he vows.
After taking a deep breath, he adds, “Nora, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about everything. For all the years I backed our old man up, for helping him control you and not fightin’ harder to keep him from trafficking you to Stripe. If I had it to do over again, I’d do things differently.”
Before we can answer, Spark hangs up.
We both stand there for a brief moment absorbing the closest thing I’m ever likely to get to an apology from my family.
“I owe you an apology as well,” Jinx says, putting his phone away. “I can’t believe that ignorant fuckin’ brother of yours came into our house, the one goddamn place I thought was safe to leave you alone.”
“You got to me in time. No one could have anticipated that Brave would lose his mind that way. I knew he was angry but even I didn’t see this coming.”
“C’mere,” he says roughly. “I need to hold you.”
I step closer and let him wrap me up in his arms. This time neither of us let go for a long time.
Chapter 21
Jinx
Two months after Brave was arrested for tryin’ to murder my old lady, I called a meeting one afternoon with the other club officers to talk about his case. We met in the war room, the conference room behind the chapel where the club officers meet. It’s not much to look at, just a long table, some chairs, and a large monitor on the wall for Striker to present critical information. This private space is where the club’s real decisions get made.
Jasper, Rock, Slate, Onyx, and Striker are already seated when I walk in.
“Brave took the plea deal,” I announce, tossing a folder onto the table and dropping down into my chair. “Morgan sent over the final paperwork this morning.”
Jasper picks up the folder and flips it open. “I thought this was an open and shut case. Why the fuck did they offer him a plea deal?”
Rock says, “You wanna walk us through it?”
“The DA originally charged him with attempted first-degree murder. It was deemed premeditated because he threatened to kill her in the texts he sent. That carries a sentence of life in state prison.”
“That’s what he should have been charged with,” Slate grumbles.
I lean back in my chair. “His public defender talked some sense into him and got him to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for a reduced sentence.”
“How much time did the fucker actually get?” Striker asks. He’s my best friend and loves Nora like a sister, so he’s about as pissed as I am.
“He got sixteen years total. After pleading guilty to attempted second-degree murder, the judge gave him the upper limit of nine years. They tacked on a one-year enhancement for use of a deadly weapon. And he got six years added on for first-degree residential burglary. The judge went with the upper limit on that one too because he entered armed and specifically targeted a family member. The vandalism and criminal threats charges were dismissed as part of the plea.”
Striker lets out a low whistle. “Sixteen years. That’s a long time to sit in a cell and think about your life choices.”
“Not fuckin’ long enough to suit me,” I say flatly.
Jasper looks up from the paperwork. “You wanted the life sentence, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I wanted the original charge to stick. Life with the possibility of parole. That son of a bitch broke into my house and went after my pregnant old lady with a blade. If I’d been ten minutes later getting home that day, I’d have found her dead body.”
The room gets quiet for a second. Every man at this table knows I’m right. Unfortunately, Nora gave it her seal of approval. Her take is that sixteen years is long enough to give her brother time to think about what he did. She doesn’t want himlocked up for life. She wants him to have a shot at a decent life one day.
“That’s generous of her,” Rock states. Both Rock and his old lady are firm believers in second chances, so I’m not surprised to hear those words come out of his mouth.
“That’s Nora,” I respond dryly. “She’s got more grace for those brothers of hers than they deserve. She talked to Spark about it. He made a vow to take Brave under his wing when he gets released and make sure he doesn’t go on the rampage again.”
