Gin's Longing Page 10

  “You still want me to let them in?”

  “Yep. Just do exactly as you were instructed. We’ll take it from there.” He starts to walk out of the room, but I still need to say something.

  “Will Gin—”

  “No. Don’t think he’ll forgive you.” He turns back to look at me, brow raised. “But I have been known to be wrong from time to time.” With that, he’s gone, leaving the door open as he disappears down the hall. I’m about to close the door when Reek appears as if he’d been there all along. Through my puffy red eyes, I watch him roll into the room, pity on his face.

  “Didn’t think he would take the shit so hard, suppose I should have known. Given what happened the last time someone came into the club unannounced.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask as I awkwardly sit on the edge of the bed, trying to keep the long t-shirt covering me, my body still trembling from Gin shaking me.

  “This club had the chapter in Chicago turn against them. The assholes came in and killed everyone. Left Gin alive, though. Well, he was still breathing.”

  “The scars. That’s how he got them?” Reek nods in confirmation.

  “So, you can see why he would be so upset.”

  “It’s my daughter,” I say in a whisper. “I’m sorry.” My words are soft, but Reek hears them.

  “I know. Wasn’t going to let you go through with it anyway. He just flew off the handle when I told him. Just do as Rock said. You’ll get your daughter back, and we can take out some of the traitorous assholes in the process. Win-win.” I give a slight nod, and he wheels out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  “What did I do?” I ask the empty room as I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. My eyes run along the unfinished drywall. The mudding work is still visible, and I find myself counting all the lines that make up the room until I drift off.

  * * *

  I’m woken by the buzzing coming from my phone. Instantly, I’m jolted from sleep and reaching for it frantically. It’s a call. Roger’s name and picture greets me on the screen before I swipe my finger across it. “Roger?” I answer.

  “Grace. Thank god you answered. Don’t let them in,” he says, catching me off guard.

  “What? What do you mean don’t let them in?” I shoot off the bed.

  “They aren’t going to give you Tanya back. If you open that door, they are going to kill you, along with everyone in that club.”

  “Roger, where’s my daughter?” I hiss into the phone, dreading the answer.

  “She’s safe. For now. They still need me, so they are using her as leverage. Grace, I can’t talk long. Just don’t let them in. The men in the club can help you get her back. I’m so sorry all this happened. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

  “Roger?” Even knowing he’s already hung up, I call out his name two more times before dropping the phone onto the bed. What is going on? Before I can even think up my own scenarios, the door to the room flies open and in rolls Reek with Gin right behind him. I look past Reek to find Gin looking anywhere but at me, but then he talks.

  “You’re still going to let them in,” he says, uncaring that he just heard the whole conversation between Roger and I. “Put this on.” He hands me a vest of some kind, and recognition hits me when the weight falls in my hand. A bulletproof vest.

  “I need to get dressed,” I say, looking down. I haven’t left the room in days and tonight is the night I’m supposed to let them in.

  “Yeah,” Gin says, pausing for a moment. “Reek give us a sec.” His voice has that edge to it.

  Reek doesn’t say anything as he nods then rolls back out the door. I absently wonder why he even came with Gin in the first place. Did Gin feel like he needed the buffer? At that thought, I almost want him to come back.

  “I’m just going to...” I trail off, leaving the vest on the bed while I grab some clothes to change into. I start for the bathroom when he opens his mouth.

  “Can change out here,” he grits out.

  “What?”

  “Nothing I haven’t seen, right?” He raises an eyebrow at me, but I can still see that look of disgust and annoyance in his features.

  “You can’t be serious,” I scoff, tugging at the hem of the shirt, suddenly feeling more naked than I would if I weren’t wearing the fabric.

  “Yeah. Who knows what else you are hiding. For all I fucking know, you were planted here by them. Is your daughter even missing?” His words hit me square in the chest, and I can see him flinch as he realizes what he said. Can’t take them back, though. “How did you find the clubhouse anyway?”

  “The matchbook.” When he only stands there staring at me, I continue. “It was from a bar in Cental. I went there and they pointed me here.” He scoffs at me. “I know you must be mad, but—”

  “Mad? Oh, babe, I passed mad a long ass time ago. No, I’m fuckin’ livid.” His hand drags along his face and down his beard. “But, hey, you got to fuck a biker, right? Got something you’ve wanted for some time, huh?”

  “Now you’re just being plain mean. I only came here because you said I could count on you!” I yell at him, my voice rising with each word. “You said you were around to help me, but then you left! You left me there, and I had to move on without you. Had to face everyone in that town and mourn for the boyfriend you killed.” His laughter booms out, the sardonic tone crawling up my spine.

  “Oh yeah, don’t let me forget that piece of shit. The asshole who tried to rape you then started to torment you. And you still didn’t want me to kill him!”

  “He didn’t need to die! And you didn’t need to leave. If you hadn’t left...” I trail off, not wanting to tell him anymore. He wasn’t there. Not when he said he would be. He just left. He doesn’t get to know what happened after he left me with promises to help when I needed it most.

  “If I hadn’t left, what?” he asks, his voice no longer raised.

  “Never mind,” I bite out, deciding I’m too mad. Ripping the oversized tee from my naked body, I toss it to the floor and go about putting panties and a bra on before pulling on a pair of jeans and a tank top. Gin clears his throat, and when I look at him for the first time since changing, his arm is extended with the vest in his hand.

  “I know she’s your daughter, but this is my fucking club.” He chances a couple steps toward me, then fastens the vest across my chest.

  “Reek told me.” His movements stiffen at my admission.

  “Yeah? He tell you about my woman getting slaughtered while I was on the floor unable to get to her?” My heart drops.

  “No,” I answer in a small whisper. “Gin...”

  “There. All set. Put a loose shirt or a sweatshirt on over it. Don’t want them seeing the vest. Might tip ‘em off.” He starts to back away, but before he can get out of reach, I grab his arm, the hard muscle tensing under my weak grip. His eyes find mine, and there’s a small moment that shifts between us, but it’s dashed away by a knock on the door.

  “Yo, G? Think it’s go time,” a voice I don’t recognize yells out.

  “Let’s go, babe,” Gin says, walking from the room, not caring whether I’m behind him or not. I quickly grab my phone and follow him.

  Nervously, I wait by the door I’m supposed to open. Gin told me to stay put, then stormed off, and I have no idea where any of the men are, but my first guess would be in the bar from the loud music coming down the hall. My palms start to sweat as my heart races faster and faster.

  Buzz. Buzz.

  My phone vibrates in my hand and I nearly jump out of my skin and drop the thing on the floor. Taking a deep breath, I look down to see a text from an unknown number flash across the screen.

  Open the door.

  My stomach lurches. So much can happen if I open that door. If I don’t open it…

  “Open it.” Gin’s voice comes from behind me, startling me from my frozen position.

  “I don’t know if I can,” I whisper without moving, my phone in my hand and eyes dire
cted at the door.

  “You can,” he encourages, being sure to stand back far enough that anyone who comes through the door won’t see him. He’s tucked inside a small cut-out in the hall, the dim light dark enough to give him plenty of cover.

  The door has no knob, but there is a deadbolt with a key already inside the lock. I can do this, I think to myself. Tanya. She needs me to do this. My hand goes to the key, and with one turn and a click, the door is unlocked. I don’t have to do anything else because the door flies open with a swift kick, nearly hitting me in the process.

  Three men with masks covering their faces stand at the door. Before I can react, one lurches forward and pulls me from the building out into the cool night air.

  “Blow it,” one of them says, then we are moving. Seconds later, a loud bang shakes the ground, and I’m flung forward out of the arms of whoever was carrying me. I land hard on the dirt, rolling onto my back as I look up to see red flames licking at the night sky. The clubhouse is on fire.

  “Gin.”

  Scrambling to my feet, I fight off the hands that try to grab me, but I don’t get very far before something hard slams over my head and everything goes dark.

  Twenty

  Gin

  The smell of burning flesh assaults my nostrils. Shouting from my brothers fills my ears as they storm down what’s left of the hall. The ringing stays, nagging at me, along with Rock shouting my name as he hauls me off the floor. A blinding pain I know all too well saturates my arm, and I look down to see what I figured was true. Red, angry burns cover my forearm, fucking up the tattoo I had inked on not even a year ago. Pricks.

  “G. Can you hear me?” Rock says again.

  “Yeah. Fuck, man, quit yelling. My head hurts,” I grumble.

  “You see what happened? Where is Grace.”

  Then, it hits me.

  “Fuck. They took her. Grabbed her, then blew the door. I only got back far enough before the flames went up. Assholes. They must have known we were expecting them.”

  “Or was it their plan to take her all along?” Rock muses out loud.

  “Doesn’t make fuckin’ sense. They could have done that when they took the kid. Something doesn't add up,” I respond, pushing my way through the door to the bar then out the double doors to the lot where the rest of my brothers are. I look around, trying to find any trace of her as I tread toward the back, but see nothing. Not a fucking thing. “This shit doesn’t add up,” I say once again, trying in vain to find taillights of any kind.

  “Got tracks over here,” one of the men shouts out, pointing to the ground. “Looks like an ATV or something.”

  “Fuck,” I call out, storming over to my bike. “I’m sick of these assholes getting the jump on us,” I grumble as I throw my leg over.

  “G, hold up. You can’t head out half-cocked,” Rock shouts at me, but I don’t listen. I’m about to roar my bike to life when someone calls out to Rock.

  “Pres, we got one of ‘em!” Sounds like Ringer. I forego my pursuit and stomp toward the person in question. On the ground with multiple guns pointed at his head is one of the assholes who just tried to fuck our club.

  “Get his mask off,” Rock commands Ringer, who is the closest to the prick. From the small amount of moonlight, I can just make out that he has gotten the brunt of the explosion. His whole side is exposed with his insides hanging out. Fucker won’t live long, but hopefully long enough for us to get some answers. The mask is ripped from his head, revealing a face I do remember.

  “Shit, she’s a fighter.” My eyes blink up at the man over her. Skinny fucker, not an ounce of muscle or fat on him. I know I’ve seen him before, but my eyes are closing once again. I can’t get him off her. “Sit tight, sweetheart. Won’t take but a minute.”

  I get real close to his face. “Hey, prick. You still with us?” He only groans in response, but with a slap to his face, his eyes open wider. When the recognition hits him, his eyes dilate for a split second before they narrow.

  “Can’t do shit to me. I’m going to die anyway. Just like you assholes.” He coughs and spits up more blood as he wheezes.

  “True. Can make it quick for ya, though. Or I could prolong it like you did with my woman,” I growl. “I’m thinkin’ the prolongin’ part is the one I’m leanin’ toward.” His bloodied smile grows.

  “You were the prick we left...alive. Woman was hot...as shit...” His breaths become shallow, and I know I’m not going to get anything out of him if he bites it already.

  “Brail, get this asshole some medical attention. He has some questions to answer,” I say.

  “G, I don’t think—” Brail starts, but Rock interrupts him.

  “Keep him breathing. No pain meds. Prick has some questions to answer.” Brail tries to reason with us, saying something along the lines of not wanting to waste medical supplies on the asshole, but he does what’s asked of him.

  “Need to look at that arm of yours, G,” Sage says, pulling me from Brail and his protests. I look down at the gnarled skin, then back out to where Grace was taken away. I should have put a tracker on her, or...

  “Reek!” I call out, walking away from Sage, who is now on his phone. Movement catches my eye, spotting Reek along with Ari. They look to be in the middle of an argument, but I don’t give a shit. “Ari,” I bark out, getting her attention. “Brail needs your help keeping that guy alive.” I jerk my head in the direction of the clubhouse where the boys are taking the traitor inside. She starts to respond, but Reek beats her to it.

  “Fuck no,” he argues, making me grind my teeth together. I know I shouldn’t be asking the girl to get involved with club business, but she works in the ER.

  “I can,” she snaps at Reek, then looks over to me. “I can help,” she repeats, then walks inside. Reek’s eyes narrow on her as she walks away, then they turn to me.

  “Don’t want to hear it, brother. She’s an ER nurse.” I shrug. “Grace had her phone on her,” I say, changing the subject, but he shakes his head.

  “Followed the signal until it got to the edge of town, then it stopped. Must have found it on her. She’s either in Cental or they’re trying to make us think she is.”

  “Smells like a set up. Wouldn’t put it past the slimy fuckers. Why would they throw it out when they got into town and not before? This whole situation doesn’t sit right with me,” I grumble, moving my arm to rub the back of my neck.

  Flexing my arm shifts the charred flesh, the pain back in full force. The adrenaline must have been dulling it, but now since shit has calmed, I’m starting to feel a little déjà vu. At least this time the burn isn’t so bad.

  I haven’t even bothered to see if all my brothers were still intact and breathing since the blast. The fire has started to die down already with the efforts of the prospects and the hose hooked to the back of the building.

  “They’re too far ahead of us. Think we got a rat? Fucking shit if we do. First Brand, now this,” Reek says. That motherfucker is still a thorn in my ass. The prick got away a few years back and tried to set up Jake and me on an escort run. Damn near got Jake arrested with a shit load of stolen electronics. Would have put him away for at least a nickel. Who knows what else was in the van we were escorting across state lines. We didn’t stick around to ask.

  Jake also lost his bike to the bastard, which only put him higher on our collective shit list. Fuckin’ with a brother is one thing, but he fucked with Jake’s bike in the process. The guy had a shit ton of hurt coming his way.

  “True fucking shit that is. Let’s go in and see how Brail and Ari are doing with the dumbass who blew himself up.” With that, we head into the clubhouse.

  The smoke is suffocating, but the building is being aired out with all the windows and doors open. All the men are making the rounds along the perimeter, being sure they haven’t missed something.

  Rock, Reek, Brail, Ari, and I are in the makeshift hospital room. Ari is doing her best to keep the pyro alive. He is knocked out while she tries
to stitch up the guy’s abdomen. It isn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be. Just needs to keep the blood in his body long enough for him to talk.

  “I’ve stopped the bleeding, but he’s going to need a transfusion if he loses any more. He needs a hospital,” Ari says from above the guy, and I shake my head in response. “But he won’t live if we don’t get him to a hospital.”

  “Doesn’t need to live. Just needs to answer some questions,” I state, making her eyes grow wide.

  “What?”

  “Ree,” Reek barks at her, but she only looks to Rock, knowing she needs to speak to the president.

  “I’m a nurse. I'm not going to save this man only for you to turn around and kill him!”

  “Ree!” Reek says again, only this time with more of an edge. “Leave it, girl,” he growls.

  “I don’t believe this,” she huffs, placing down the stitching needle. “I’m sorry, I won’t be a part of this.” She walks briskly from the room, not sparing a glance toward Reek, who follows her.

  “I can pick up where she left off,” Brail says, and gets back to work assessing the damage.

  “Hey, G.” Sage comes into the room. “You need to have the arm looked at.”

  “Leave it be, Sage. I’ll get Brail to take a look when we are done with...” I trail off when a tall woman I haven’t seen in some time hesitantly walks into the room.

  “Mr. Mathers.” Her big, red painted lips say with a smile.

  “Leia.” I look over to Sage, and he only offers a shrug.

  “She’s the only burn expert I know, man,” he says, brushing off the fact that I’m pissed he brought her. After I woke to find my face burnt off and a bullet hole in my stomach, I met her. Leia Garrison. She was my doctor and stuck by me through my treatments, among other things.

  “Fine. You have twenty minutes. I’ve got to question the asshole over there.” I nod toward the table where the slab of shit’s laying.