Gin's Longing Page 7

  “Well, we’ll see you down there,” Ari says, opening the door for the four of them to leave. Deciding not to just stay in bed and being ridiculously hungry again, I get out of bed and go in search of the promised food. It doesn’t take me long, I just follow the smell and the loud female chatter.

  I walk into a large room with five women, two being Kimi and Ari. There are three kids running around the tables playing tag, and the baby Kimi had on her hip is strapped into a highchair, happily munching on baby snacks. This scene isn’t something I thought I would find inside a clubhouse belonging to an MC.

  “Hey, Grace.” Kimi waves from her spot in the kitchen. She, along with Ari and one other girl, are talking to the other girls getting dinner ready. “Come on in. We won’t bite.”

  “Probably just talk your ear off,” Ari says, then introduces me to the other women. “The two cooking are Cira and Jasmine, and that one,” she flicks her finger toward a tall blonde cooing at the baby in the highchair, “is Bex. They are the club’s… girls.” Ari’s description of the girls gets a laugh from them, but not much more.

  “Hey. You’re a friend of Gin’s?” Bex asks, now looking my way with a smirk on her face—the same look I got when I met Rogers ex-girlfriend. It’s one that tells me she’s seen the man naked, on more than one occasion. The man being Gin.

  “Yes, I suppose I am. He’s helping me find my daughter.” Because that all it is...isn’t it? But she’s acting is like I’m stepping on her territory.

  “Grace,” a deep gritted voice calls out from the far side of the room, echoing off the floor and bare walls. I jump at the sound, and turn. My eyes meet Gin’s, narrowed and...angry? We both stay there staring, unmoving before someone breaks the spell.

  “G, the girl can eat, can’t she? Shit.” A tall Hispanic looking man walks past him, clapping his shoulder as he does. “He’s just being pissy. Get a plate, have some food. I’m Sage.” He thrusts his hand out to me. “Knew your old man. Nice to have you here. Despite the circumstances,” he tells me with a big smile I can’t help but be drawn to. His lips have probably put women under spells with just one smile alone.

  “Oh...ah...thanks,” I say, shaking his hand quickly before he starts toward the food.

  “You in any pain?” I’m startled by Gin’s voice being so close to me, and suck in a sharp breath that causes slight pain in my ribs. I do my best to cover it up, but it must not be good enough. “You are. Hell, I would have grabbed you a plate, babe. Go back and lay down. I’ll—”

  “No, I’m fine. Really. I needed to get out of bed anyway. Um, Kimi and Ari brought me the things you got me. I haven’t looked through the bags yet, but thank you so much. You really didn’t have to, but I appreciate it. I left my house so quickly, I didn’t even think about packing a bag. I just...I needed to get here. I knew it was my best chance at getting her back,” I admit, my voice trying to stay quiet from prying ears.

  “Grab a plate and we can go back to my room and talk. Got some news,” he says, gently taking hold of my elbow and guiding me to the small line that has formed in the kitchen. We both grab a plate of food and head back to the room. His room.

  “What did you find out?” I ask, gingerly sitting on the bed. I made it before I left the room, no need to smooth it out.

  “Turns out your man is a crooked lawyer. Works for the assholes who roughed you up.”

  “He’s what? No. Roger doesn’t even jaywalk. He’s never even ran a stop sign. There’s no way he’s crooked,” I say, defending the man I thought I knew.

  “Sorry, babe, but he is. Got some prick off for murdering his girlfriend and her sister.”

  “The Wells case? That wasn’t Roger’s case. He said he was only a consultant,” I say in disbelief. My food remains untouched, and now I don’t want to eat it.

  “I know this all must be a lot, but it’s true.” He pauses for a moment, his face turning serious. “I’ve got to know, Grace, did you ever tell Roger about me? About your biological father?” he asks, now setting his empty plate down on his disheveled dresser. I stare at it. I never even saw him take a bite. “Grace, babe, focus. Did you ever tell anyone about your involvement with the club?” His voice is terse with an edge to it.

  “I don’t...no, I didn’t. I...” I trail off, suddenly remembering something. “When Roger and I started combining our assets, he had found an account in my name. It was one from Fuzz. I didn’t even know about it. He asked where I got all that money, and without thinking, I said it must have been from my biological father. He asked more questions, but I said he was dead and there was nothing to question. Roger could have done more digging.”

  “Bet he fucken did,” Gin grumbles. “Eat your food. Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning,” he tells me, then grabs his plate before heading to the door.

  “But this is your room. I...” I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. There’s a long pause where his eyes don’t leave mine until he lets out a sigh.

  “Get some sleep,” he tells me, then walks out the door.

  Twelve

  Gin

  “This is your room.”

  Damn right it’s my fucking room. My fucking bed. Just not my fucking woman. I slam my right fist into the bag, followed by the left, and continue until I’m interrupted by the slamming of a door. If that didn’t get my attention, the person turning down the music does. “Hitting it hard tonight I see.” Reek.

  “Turn my music back on,” I grumble, already knowing he won't.

  “I don’t understand how you can listen to that shit. All they do is scream and bang on the drums.”

  “Helps me not think,” I answer, gripping a towel tossed over a lone chair. I wipe the sweat dripping from my face before swiping the back of my neck. I came down here after pacing the hall in front of my door about an hour ago and have been pounding out my frustrations on the bag since. “The hell you doing down here anyway? Shouldn’t you be in the clubhouse with Ari riding your cock?” I joke, only because I know it pisses him off when I talk about Ari, Kimi’s best friend from college. The girl got smashed up pretty bad when a couple kids rammed into her side of the car they were both in. Shattered her leg. Since Ari had no semblance of family, Kimi insisted on her staying with her while she recovered—which meant Ari spent her time here while Kimi spent her time with Jake. Irritated the hell out of Reek.

  “Fuck off, man. You know it ain’t like that. She’s fucking annoying,” he snaps. The two of them are constantly in a battle with one another, though I’m not sure why.

  “So, what the fuck you doin’ down here?” I question again as he starts to roll into the room.

  “PT,” he simply says, then stands from his chair, slight grimace on his face, to take a seat on the weight bench.

  “Thought that shit hurt too much.”

  “Does. That’s why I smoked an extra bowl before coming out.” He starts huffing out reps on the leg press, but continues talking. “Got a surgery coming up.” His words stun me.

  “Surgery? On your back?” The man was beaten to a bloodied pulp, fucking up his spine in the process. I don’t know the extent of the injuries, or the torture he endured, but I do know he said he was never doing surgery again. There have been too many to get him to where he’s at now: in so much pain, he’d rather keep his ass in a wheelchair and smoke a pound of weed a day. Whoever his supplier is, the fucker must be rich.

  “I’m a Hell’s Rider who can’t ride,” he tells me, starting on the other leg. He has to have been doing this regularly. He has barely broken a sweat but the pain in his back must be starting to get to him because his movements are getting slower. “Got in touch with a doctor. Said he can get me my fucking life back, without pain. Without the fucking chair. Might just do it.” I never knew it bothered him so much. Guess that goes to show we all have our secrets. Mine just so happened to walk into the club yesterday in need of my help. “You fucking that girl?”

  “The fuck, asshole?” I bite out, his question insta
ntly pissing me off. I stomp over to him, ready to pull him up and pummel his ass, fucked back or not, but he lets out a laugh.

  “Maybe not then.” He chuckles. I’m still pissed, but not about to rip his head off. “You know it wouldn’t be a bad thing. I’m sure her old man would like to know she’s taken care of,” he states. Taken care of. Yeah. Right up until I ripped her heart out or got her killed. I would take care of her all right.

  “Maybe next time you try to play matchmaker like you work at eHarmony, take a look at yourself. Unless you are good with Premo fucking Ari every time he rolls into town,” I grit out, catching the scowl he gives me before I walk out of the room. I knew that would get him. A few years back, Jake procured the club an ally when he and the president of the Siberians, Premo, got stuck in some shit. After that, it seems every time we have a party, the Siberians are here. More or less, Premo. I’m sure it’s because he has a sweet spot for Ari, though the girl still hasn’t left with him. Yet. Clusterfuck is all I’m sayin’.

  I make my way inside the clubhouse and go down the hall, pausing at my door, wondering if I should check on her before making my way to the guest rooms. Maybe she fell asleep, or maybe she needs something…

  Fucking hell, I’m being a pussy. Pussy. That’s my problem. I need some pussy.

  I force myself to continue down the stretch of doors to the one I’m sure I’ll find empty. Going in, I let the door shut behind me, kick off my boots, and drop myself down onto the bed. I’m still in my shorts and t-shirt, slightly damp from drying sweat. I need a fucking shower. Change of clothes. And all that shit is in my room. So is she. Fuck my goddamn life.

  * * *

  “Gin?” her sweet voice calls out to me, and I feel like I can reach out and touch it. Touch her. Pull her close. I swear, I can smell her too. The taste of her in the air. Something fruity.

  “You always smell so good, babe,” I say, wrapping my hand around her waist and pulling her close. It’s the sharp intake of breath she lets out that causes me to crack open one eye, then the other. I’m still in the bed I fell asleep in last night, only now, I have another person in here with me, and I’m clutching her body close to mine. “Shit. Grace. What are you doing in here?” I ask, trying to let her go without causing her more pain. As she gets up from the bed, I catch a tear in her eye. “Fuck, did I hurt you? The fuck were you doing in here?” I stand in front of her, looking her over for any further discomfort I might have caused.

  “I’m sorry. I came in to tell you lunch was ready. I thought maybe you would be hungry since you never came down for breakfast. Someone said you might be up here,” she tells me, her voice getting softer as she goes on. I scared her.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I could eat. Thank you. I’m...fuck, did I hurt you?” I want so bad to step closer, but I root my feet to the floor.

  “It's fine. You just startled me is all.”

  “Why were you in the bed with me?” I ask, not knowing if I want the answer.

  “I was trying to wake you and you, ah...you pulled me onto the bed with you,” she says, her eyes downcast to the floor, her sandal-covered foot scraping at the thin carpet.

  “Hell,” I grumble, dragging my hands down my face then back up, realizing I no longer have on my bandana. She can see my face right now and hasn’t reacted once. Granted, she’s seen the gnarled flesh before, but this time seems different. It’s like she’s looking at me and not my face. Fucking pussy. “I’ll be down to eat,” I say, then turn to go toward the attached bathroom.

  “I...” she starts, and I turn back around. “I washed your clothes and—”

  “You what?” The hell is she trying to do to me? “That wasn’t your job, babe. You’re a guest here. You don’t need to be washing my dirty laundry. I got club whores for that.” It comes out so much worse than I want it to, and I can see what it does to her when the words leave my mouth. She jerks back ever so slightly, then nods.

  “Of course. I was just...I needed to keep busy. If I do that, I won’t think of my daughter.” She takes in a deep breath, then walks out of the room. “I would get down there soon. Sage was saying something about eating the rest of the peppered turkey,” she tells me before closing the door behind her.

  Thirteen

  Gin

  I give myself a mental kick in the ass for being a dick and walk out of the room shortly after Grace left. When I open the door to my room, I expect to see her inside, but she isn’t. I push past the annoyance and stomp over to my dresser—which looks nothing like it did yesterday. When I open a drawer, I find my clothes folded neatly inside. I open another, and another, each one just like the first. Like it took her hours to wash my laundry, fold it, then place everything in the dresser all organized and shit. I have the urge grab them all and toss them into the corner where they have always been, leaving the drawers open in the process. Instead, I grab the clothes I need, shut the drawer, and head to the bathroom for a much-needed shower.

  Tossing the selected clothes onto the vanity, I twist on the shower, suppressing the memory of Grace standing here topless, her pert nipples just begging for my mouth. I let out a groan in frustration and start stripping off my sweat-stained clothes, then step into the hot spray. Should be cold water by the looks of my dick. I ignore it for now, looking around the shower for my soap, finding all the different things Ellie must have bought Grace. Not realizing what I’m doing, I start flipping open the caps to smell them. When I get to the body wash, I snap it open and the memory from my half sleeping state returns. I smelled this. Oranges. Only this thing says something about passionfruit and citrus. I flick the lid back into place and set it on the ledge where I found it, getting on with my shower instead of smelling the girl’s shampoo like some creepy asshole.

  * * *

  “There he fuckin’ is,” Sage shouts when I walk into the common room. A row of heads turns my way, but my eyes narrow in on one before I look back up to Sage and flip him the finger. “Sorry, brother. You took too long. I got all the peppered turkey,” he says as I open the fridge.

  “Fucker,” I grumble under my breath and rummage through the food, settling for the plain oven roasted turkey. “Told you that shit was mine,” I say, this time louder, so he hears.

  “No name. Free game,” he tells me. My narrowed gaze focuses on him. He wiggles his eyebrows, then chances a glance over to Grace, who is oblivious to our exchange, too busy talking to one of the club whores. Jessie or something. I don’t respond. I know what he’s doing, and it isn’t going to work on me. Since the club got torn apart and I fell down that black hole, he has been on my ass, irritating me at every turn, trying to get the old Gin back. He’s gone. Sage just needs to accept that.

  “Church!” someone calls out to the room, and I look up from my sandwich as Rock peeks his head in before leaving again. I quickly shovel things onto the two pieces of bread and smack them together, bypassing the plate. I’m sure I drop half of it on my way to chapel, but I don’t care. Rock sounded pissed, and an unscheduled call for church is something to rush to. I’m just not going in on an empty stomach.

  “Nice of you to join us, Gin. Hope we didn’t interrupt your lunch,” Rock says in an unamused tone. Sage snickers, and I look around to find him already sitting at the table.

  “How did you get in here so fast, fucker?”

  “Wasn’t making a sandwich,” he says.

  “That’s a first,” one of the brothers says, making everyone laugh and Sage flip off the room.

  “Enough. Bunch’a fuckin’ kids, all of ya,” Rock says, getting everyone to shut up. “Reek. Tell ‘em all what you just told me,” Rock instructs. Reek is up at the front of the table next to Rock right where Jake should be. Where the fuck is he?

  “Found this.” He lays down a blown-up picture of what looks like an aerial shot of a building. It gets passed around the room, and when I get my hands on it, Reek starts talking. “That’s the old wheat factory on the far edge of town. It hasn’t had any activity since they closed the plac
e down fifteen years ago. Until now, that is. Got that shot just this morning,” he tells us. In the picture, there’s a white van driving into what I assume is a shed. Just the tail end of the van is out, the picture snapped presumably as the van was pulling in, giving us this small break. “Looked through the records and there’s no purchase agreement. Place is still for sale. But here’s the thing. I put in a call for a showing and was told showings were unavailable at this time. The price is ridiculously high. Five million for a busted wheat factory is a bit pricey. Someone is keeping the place on the market as a cover.”

  “That’s where our VP is now. He and his old lady are house shopping. Feeling out the relator,” Rock states, answering my question. “Suspicious shit. Too suspicious to overlook. The bastards have been eluding us at every turn and it's chapping my ass. They’ve been under the radar too fucking long. My only guess is they have some friends with connections higher than ours.”

  “Let’s go in. Shoot up the pace and kill ‘em all,” Ringer says, pulling my attention to him.

  “They have her little girl, fuckwit. What if she’s there?” I grit out at his rash suggestion.

  “Who is she anyway? Sorry, G, but her showing up and us suddenly needing to help the bitch isn’t something—”

  “She’s family.” I slam my hand down on the table, stopping him. “Her dad was my VP. Our brother. She gets our help, no questions asked,” I grit out.

  “She’s got it, G,” Rock says, bringing my attention to him. I give a curt nod, and he continues. “She’s Fuzz’s daughter. Off limits and our responsibility,” he says, his words hitting me square in the chest. Off limits.

  “Got it, Pres,” Ringer says, looking slightly apologetic. The rest of the men at the table nod in understanding.

  “Good, now that that’s covered, we wait on what our VP finds. Could be a dead end for all we know,” Rock says. Few more words are spoken, then we leave to go about our day. For the first time, my need for blood is put aside for the need to find the missing girl. What did Grace say her name was? Tanya? I don’t even know what the kid looks like, but if she looks anything like her mama, I’m sure she’s beautiful.