Black Dogs Motorcycle Club: Full Series Box Set (40 page)

“Same,” said Jase.

Will saw Henry shuffling
up. He moved to climb to his feet, but found his limbs were still a little
shaky. Jase gave him a hearty yank until he stood straight.

“Will,” said Henry.

“No, please, let me
start,” said Will. “I’m sorry, Henry. I’m sorry for being such a shithead
lately. My behavior for the club was… inexcusable.”

“It was,” said Henry.
“Never had to deal with that from you, Will. And from what I hear about this
little rogue operation at Swashbuckler’s, we’re very lucky I’m not cleaning up
civilian bodies today.”

The words stung Will
deeply, but this time he didn’t feel anger to fight back, only regret.

“I fucked up,” said Will.
“I fucked up bad.”

“You fucked up, but from
what I understand, you also kept those people alive,” said Henry. “Still, we’re
going to have to take you off active duty for a while. Until we can be sure
you’re really back to being yourself. These transitions can take time.”

He was expecting it, but
it still wasn’t pleasant to swallow. “I understand.”

Henry put up a hand on his
shoulder. “This life isn’t easy on any of us. There’s no playbook, and we sure
as shit can’t just Google the answers to our problems. What happened to your
family was…” He paused, shaking his head. “It was more than I would wish on my
enemies, Will. And I wish we could have kept it from happening. I hope you
believe me when I say I tried to make things right for you.”

“I do. And I know now it
wasn’t your fault,” said Will. “And I see now that not all problems can be
solved with one solution—a battle plan has to be flexible.”

“How’s that?”

“If the murders by the
cartel were part of a coup, then there was never any diplomacy to solve that problem.
Paulo wanted power, and he was going to try to take it, no matter what anyone
said or offered. So if I hadn’t used violence against them to protect Eva…” He
stopped, then continued self-consciously, “…to protect the bar… then they would
surely be dead.

“But at the same time, if
I had used violence to strike out against the cartel as planned, instead of
coming to this meeting, it would have escalated everything into chaos and
death. We needed diplomacy and violence to solve this problem. I just got lucky
that they happened in the right order.”

Henry smiled at him.
“That’s a very wise insight for someone so young, Will. And one we should all
keep in mind from now on.”

“Does that mean you’re
going to put up less of a stink when I want to go in hot?” said Ghost. “If so,
then this is definitely the best day ever, guys. I knew wearing my lucky
underwear was going to pay off.”

~ EIGHTEEN ~

Muddy Waters came on the jukebox as Eva dried the last
of the shot glasses. A wave of bittersweet memory washed over her—sadness, a
little heartache, and the deep lust that Will brought out in her all mingled
for her attention. She looked up to the front door, silent and closed, and
wished for the hundredth time that it would open and reveal Will standing behind
it.

It had been two days since
Will left Swashbuckler’s with his friends—the other members of his biker gang,
as it turns out. She hadn’t heard a word from him since. Like a whirlwind that
ended as fast as it began, Will was just gone, and Eva couldn’t believe how
much she missed him. More than that, she was worried for him. The last look he
gave her was full of so much pain that it invaded her dreams at night.

Eva stored the clean shot
glasses slowly, one at a time, her mind feeling slow and dulled after so many
days of chaos and excitement. She thought about Will’s touch on her skin and
felt a heat blaze between her legs almost instantly, making her miss him even
more.

At the end of the bar,
Charlie sat, reading a newspaper. He flipped the page loudly and cleared his
throat, bringing Eva out of her thoughts. Even though they hadn’t had any
trouble since Will left, Charlie had been shadowing her like an overprotective
mother bear ever since. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him about it.

“What do you want to do
for dinner?” Charlie asked from behind the paper. “I was thinking we could go
into town somewhere new, get our minds off things.”

“Sure,” said Eva. “I’m
fine with that.”

Charlie folded the
newspaper down and looked at her with a frown. He looked at her the same way he
looked at a schematic of something he was trying to fix. “You’re sad.”

Eva gave him a sarcastic
raise of her eyebrow and said nothing, wiping the counter down instead.

He folded the paper and
put it on the counter. “Are you still mad at me?”

Eva shrugged. She really
didn’t know how she felt about their fight before. It seemed unimportant. “I
guess not.”

“Then what is it?” said
Charlie. It only took him a few seconds to soften and add, “Oh. Is it… that..?”

“I don’t want to hear
about it, Charlie,” she said as she threw the dish rag down into the sink. She
leaned on the counter and hung her head. “I don’t need it from you.”

Charlie cleared his throat
and shifted, uncomfortable. “All right, I guess I deserve that. I just don’t
like seeing you upset. I’m sorry you’re sad.”

Eva closed her eyes. She
couldn’t find the composure to look up at her brother. She just nodded with her
face toward the counter.
Me too.

The bar door swung open,
squeakier than ever, it seemed. Eva took a deep breath and stood straight.
Charlie turned, too, instantly on guard as he had been with every visitor for
the past two days.

A familiar, hulking figure
came in the doorway. It was the dark-haired man that called Will his friend. He
pulled his sunglasses off and tucked them into the black leather vest that
wrapped around his broad chest. Eva looked at the vest closely for the first
time and saw it was covered in patches, including one that bore his name:
Jase.
Eva’s heart leapt into her throat as he approached.

“Hi, folks,” said Jase. He
walked up to the bar and took a stool a few down from Charlie. “Can I get a
beer, please?” he asked Eva directly.

“How’s Will?” she said.
She didn’t even make a move to fulfill his request. She only stared at him, waiting.

Behind his big black
beard, Jase’s expression went soft, surprised. He tipped his head just a little
to the side as he looked at her. “Will is fine. That’s what I’m here to talk to
you about.”

Eva felt relief rush down
her muscles in a furious wave. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, not
caring at all about displaying such emotion in front of her brother or this
stranger. In some dark part of her mind, she feared Will was not going to
survive his confrontation—feared he had crossed some forbidden line in his
dangerous world. Her hands shook as she poured Jase the beer he requested.

Charlie held a hand to him
and Jase shook it. “I guess I didn’t really introduce my sister to you last
time. This is Eva.”

Jase’s eyes met hers and
he grinned. “Oh yes, I’ve heard about Eva.” His smile grew when she blushed.

Charlie cleared his
throat, clearly trying to change the subject without being forward. “So, you
have some news for us?”

“I do,” said Jase, taking
a drink of his beer. “First, you’ll be happy to know the problem from before
has been solved. You will never be bothered again, and neither will your uncle,
whenever he returns.”

Charlie scoffed. “You got
a guarantee on that?”

Jase reached two fingers
into a small pocket on his vest and came out with a white business card. He
handed it to Charlie. “Here’s your guarantee. That’s the direct line to Henry
Oliver, president of the Black Dogs. He has extensive influence, and you now
get to count yourself among his allies. If anyone tries to hassle you again,
call him, and we’ll take care of it.”

Charlie took the card with
a surprised expression. “The Black Dogs Motorcycle Club?”

“Yes, that’s our
organization, mine and Will’s,” said Jase. “Will is actually a very important
part of our club.”

“Didn’t seem like it the
other day,” said Charlie.

Jase sighed and took a
drink. “That’s complicated. Everybody goes through dark times. Will’s just
going through his. We don’t abandon brothers when they’re wounded. In any case,
the club formally apologizes to you both for his, uh… methods. This was unusual
for everyone.”

Charlie gave a hearty nod
and stuffed the card carefully into his shirt pocket. “That’s appreciated. All
we wanted was for things to get back to normal,” he said as he looked at Eva.

Speak for yourself,
she thought.

“You should be able to do
that now,” said Jase. He finished off the last of his beer, and Eva held up a
hand and refused his money when he tried to pull out his wallet. Jase gave her
a smile. “Hope you guys have a good evening.”

As Jase rose to leave, the
office phone rang from the back room. Charlie jumped up and excused himself,
clapping a friendly hand on Jase’s arm as he passed and disappeared around the
wall. Seeing an opportunity, Eva called out to Jase just before he got to the
door. He turned to her with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“Can I talk to you for a
minute—alone?” she asked.

Jase looked over her head
to where Charlie had disappeared. “Yeah, sure.”

Eva crossed her arms,
feeling vulnerable and a little embarrassed. “Look, I don’t really know how to
ask this, so I’m just going to come out and say it…” She squirmed a little on
her feet. “I’m worried about Will. Is he really doing all right, or are you
just telling us that to keep us settled?”

Jase smiled at her and
pulled the smoke out of his lips. “I wouldn’t fuck around about something like
that. Will’s my closest friend, I want to see him well, too.”

“I know he’s a dangerous
man,” said Eva. “Just like I’m sure you are.” She looked around nervously. “I
know this doesn’t make any sense, the kind of girl I am… I’m probably not his
usual type… but he connected with me.
We
connected.” She had to pause
and take a breath. Jase watched her with patient eyes. “I know he’s not in a
good place. But I feel like I got to see the real Will under all that pain. And
I… I really care about that Will. Can you promise to let me know if there’s
something I can do for him?”

Jase watched her face
quietly a moment before he grinned and said, “I can see why he likes you so
much.”

Eva’s face flushed with
heat. “What? What do you mean?”

Jase shook his head and
laughed. “No, no, that’s not my conversation to have, and if you’re Will’s
girl, that means you’re smart enough that you already know that, anyway.” When
he winked at her, Eva blushed again and she gave him a guilty half-grin.

“I don’t
know
… but
I hope,” she said.

“Will doesn’t exactly have
a ‘usual type.’ He’s always been a very… self-sufficient man. So if he’s
connected with you, Eva, then I would say don’t worry about all that surface
bullshit.”

“You’re not going to kick
him out of the gang, are you? You seemed so angry at him before.”

“Well, first, we call it a
club. But no, we’re not kicking him out of the club. Will’s made amends. He’s
on a good path to getting back to himself, now. He’s just going to have to
serve out his punishment, first.”

Eva’s eyes widened and she
felt her heart drop. She imagined something horrible and bloody. “Punishment?”

Jase paused, then laughed
when he read her expression. “Relax, it just means he has to tend bar at the
clubhouse for a few weeks instead of working any of the fun or important jobs.
I guess ‘demotion’ is a better word for it.”

Eva let out a relieved
laugh. “Luckily, we’ve already given him some practice with that. Although I’m
surprised he’s accepting a demotion, to be honest. He doesn’t seem like the
kind of guy who listens to people when he doesn’t want to.”

“That’s the thing. I think
he wants to, now,” said Jase. “Not that he wants to put up with demotion, of course.
It’s that he wants to be different, and he knows step one is putting up with
his punishments.” Jase paused a moment, then added. “I shouldn’t say
‘different.’ It’s more like Will wants to be himself again. The Will he was two
years ago.” He nodded toward her. “Which, I would guess, is the same Will you
got to see underneath his pain.”

Eva was silent. The
thought made her heart ache.

“Maybe you can help him
get there,” said Jase. He gave her shoulder a gentle pat and left the bar.