Retribution: A Motorcycle Club Romance (17 page)

“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.