Nasty Bastard (Grim Bastards MC Book 4) (8 page)

I close my eyes again, trying to remember everything that happened. “The guy that hit me was the leader. He was filthy, obviously a meth head. He said he was gonna kill me next time if I didn’t have an answer for him.”

Smoke mumbles out a curse, but I ignore him and continue on. “He said I should know the name of the man that was gonna kill me. Torch… his name is Torch.”

The energy in the room changes as Smoke stands up and sends his fist into the wall, leaving a hole in the old paneling. “Motherfucker.”

“Who is he?” I ask, not sure I want to know the answer.

Smoke walks to the door and jerks it open. Just before he steps outside, he looks back at me and answers, “A dead man.”

Smoke

Closing the door behind me, anger fills me to the core. I just can’t believe, can’t fucking believe, that motherfucker would have the balls to even show his face in my town again. Torch helped my sister kill herself when he got her hooked on drugs. No matter how hard I tried to get her to kick the habit, she still died from an overdose. I did everything I could to help her get clean, but she died in a cold dark alley all alone. As far as I’m concerned, her death lays right at his damn feet.

Now, the bastard comes back to town and lays his hands on my woman. She may not know it, but she has always been my woman and always will be. This time, he won’t just walk away. I’ll bury his ass so deep no one will ever fucking find him. Just the thought of ending him brings a brief smile to my face.

Rushing down the hall, I head to the common room. I scan the room for a second, finding Brew and Hack sitting in the corner, a club whore hanging on Hack. My dad and a few of the older members are playing pool, but Boz is nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Boz?” I shout, bringing everyone’s attention to me.

Brew and Hack are up in an instant, walking toward me. Brew answers my question as they reach me. “He’s in his office with Trix.”

I start to turn but notice Addy walking out of the kitchen, her nephew Cam in her arms and Gidget’s son following close behind her. “Hey, I need a favor.”

She smiles as she walks toward us, stopping to brush her lips over Brew’s. “Sure, Smoke, what do you need?”

“Gidget wants to see her son. Can you take him to her and stay with them until I get back?” I ask, trying to keep the anger out of my voice. “Make sure she stays in bed. Doc says she shouldn’t even try moving until tomorrow.”

“I wanna see Mommy,” Gidget’s son says.

My eyes go to him, and I feel the need to protect him, just like I want to protect his mother. “You can see her, but don’t forget she’s hurt. You need to be careful with her. Don’t be crawling on her or anything. Okay?”

His eyes, that look just like his mother’s, sparkle with unshed tears as he asks, “Is she gonna be okay?”

I lean down, getting eye level with him, and reach out and push his hair from his eyes. “She’s gonna be just fine. I promise. In a day or two, she’ll be feeling better. We’ve just got to be careful not to hurt her for a little while.”

Before he can say anything, Addy grabs his hand and starts leading him down the hall. “Let’s go see your mom.”

I don’t bother telling Brew and Hack to follow me, just turn on my heels and head to the Pres’s office. Quickly tapping my fist on the door, I open it and see Trix sitting in Boz’s lap. From the looks of things, it wouldn’t have been much longer before they were fucking, but I don’t care. We have shit to talk about.

“What the fuck?” Boz shouts, standing up with Trix still in his arms. “Don’t ever just walk in my office like that again.”

“Torch is back.” I ignore his attitude, and Brew shuts the door behind us.

“Fuck,” Hack mumbles, walking across the room and grabbing a beer. “I thought we ran that fucker out of town.”

Everyone goes quiet for a second, but then Boz taps Trix’s ass and says, “Babe, give us a few minutes.”

She starts to walk out, but I stop her with a question. “Are you okay with Stone’s daughter being here?”

As much as I love the club, I’ll walk away before I let Gidget go again. If Trix can’t handle her being around, I’ll hit the road with my woman and her boy.

Trix blinks then nods. “She didn’t have anything to do with her Dad pulling his shit, so I ain’t gonna hold it against her.”

“Good.” I close my eyes and pull in a relieved breath. “Thank you.”

Then she walks over to me and places a hand on my arm. “Take care of her, Smoke. No one deserves to be hurt like she was.”

With that, she leaves the room, and I mutter, “That son of a bitch is back, and he beat the hell out of my woman. I should have buried his ass for what he did to Sheila. This time, I’m gonna make sure he never touches anyone again.”

Boz walks toward me and asks, “Your woman? I’m a bit confused about why you would call her that. Aren’t you the one that turned your back on her?”

Even as close as we are, I never told Boz everything that happened between Gidget and me. He knows I turned my back on her, but he doesn’t know why. Now isn’t the time to tell him, so I keep my mouth shut.

“Hell, you know more than me. I didn’t even know the chick existed a few days ago,” Brew says with a shake of his head.

Hack nods, adding his own thoughts. “Me neither. Been a Grim Bastard for a while, and I didn’t even know Stone had a daughter.”

I don’t want to tell them anything, not a fucking word, but I do. “She’s been mine since I was old enough to know why God gave me a dick. I pushed her away, wanting her to go to college and live her dreams. Now that she’s back, I’m not gonna let her go again.”

Boz walks over to me, gets in my face, and asks, “You telling me you want me to accept a traitor’s daughter as your old lady? You really expect me to give club protection to Gidget, after everything her father and brother did?”

My voice is every bit as hard as his when I answer. “You either accept her, or I’m turning my cut in and walking away.”

Instead of being pissed off, he reaches out and clamps a hand on my shoulder. “I trust Gidget. I just wanted to make sure you did, too.”

With that, he turns around and looks at Hack. “Round and Rocky are in the common room. Bring them in here.”

Hack cocks his brow, a question in his eyes, but he doesn’t ask it. Instead, he walks out of the office and does as he is told. We all stay quiet until Dad, Rocky and Hack walk in. As soon as the door is closed, Boz looks at them.

“I want you both wearing an officer cut,” he says, lifting his chin to them.

My father looks puzzled as he asks, “What the fuck are you talking about, Boz? My son is your VP; I’m not taking his place.”

Boz shakes his head and explains. “I want to make two new officers. The two of you won’t carry a title, just officer. I need more men I can trust at my side, and I can’t think of anyone better than the two of you.”

Both men nod their head, looking surprised as fuck. I know the feeling. Normally, Boz runs shit by me, but I had no idea this shit was gonna happen. Still, I don’t disagree. We need more than four officers.

Boz lifts his chin to me and says, “Now, tell us what the fuck is going on?”

Walking across the room, I step past the fridge and grab a bottle of Jack off the shelf. Not bothering to grab a glass, I pull off the top and pour the fiery liquid down my throat. It doesn’t do much for my anger, but it feels good going down.

Finally, I turn around and start the story Gidget told me. “Torch showed up at her house, looking for something that Stone owed him.”

The boys go back and forth asking questions, most of which I can’t answer. I tell them what I know, then add, “She doesn’t know shit. I think she probably knows her dad and brother are dead, but she didn’t ask me about them.”

“She grew up here, knows how shit works,” Dad says with a shrug. “The girl was never stupid. She knows they’re dead. Knowing how they treated her, she probably doesn’t give a shit what happened to them.”

I nod my head in agreement. “That’s what I’m thinking, too.”

“What the hell was Stone doing with Torch?” Rocky asks, finally opening his mouth. “I know Stone betrayed the club, but what does that have to do with Torch?”

Boz cocks a brow then goes on to tell them about the books being off. “I’m figuring whatever in the hell Torch is looking for has something to do with meth and our missing money. First priority is putting Torch six feet under; second is getting back what is ours.”

“This is a good thing,” Hack says, looking at me. “Not that he laid hands on your woman, but the fact that we have a live person to track is a hell of lot easier than trying to find out what Stone did before he died.”

“Your woman?” Dad asks, but I shake my head to cut him off.

If it wasn’t for him, I would never have sent her away. All his talk about her not knowing what she wanted got into my head. It made me force myself to let her go. Through the years, a day hasn’t gone by where I didn’t regret that decision.

“We need to call church. Figure out some sort of plan, and get Hack to tracking to see if he can find Torch’s whereabouts. This time, we take his ass out for good,” Boz says, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a beer. “The dumb fucker may not know Stone is dead. If not, I’m betting he comes back again.”

Taking another swig of Jack, I put the top back on and place it on the shelf. “Torch told her he’d be back.”

The thought of him telling her his name, so she would know it when he comes back to kill her, causes my anger to spike again. I don’t share that information with my brothers. Instead, I consider carving my name into his skin before I kill him.

Brew nods and says, “Yeah, he’ll be back to get whatever he’s looking for or to finish off what he started.”

Rocky walks over to the desk and leans a hip against it. “Only this time, it will be us and not her there to answer his questions.”

My eyes lock onto Boz’s, wanting to make sure he understands what I’m about to say. “The motherfucker is mine. I don’t care who brings him down, but I’ll be the one that ends his fucking life.”

Gidget

Waking up, pain fills my body. It takes a second for sleep to clear from my mind, as I suck in one breath after another. Before the pain starts to fade, a pretty blonde pokes her head in the door and smiles.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” she says, walking into the room, leaving the door open behind her.

“I just woke up,” I reply, chewing on my bottom lip. “I really want to see my son. Could you bring him to me?”

Instead of answering me, the blonde turns and motions for someone to come in. A petite redhead walks into the room, shutting the door behind her. She walks right over to the bed and smiles down at me.

She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “Hi, I’m Addy.”

“Damn. I forgot to introduce myself,” the blonde says, coming to stand by Addy. “I’m Trix, Boz’s old lady.”

“I’m Gidget,” I introduce myself, more out of habit than actually wanting them to know my name. “I really want to see my son. I need to see him. Can one of you please bring Parker to me right now?”

Addy walks to the end of the bed and gently sits down. “Smoke had me bring him in to see you earlier, but you were asleep, so I took him up to Cam’s room to watch a cartoon. About five minutes into the movie, he fell asleep. I’ll bring him to you as soon as he wakes up, if that’s okay with you.”

She waits for me to nod then pulls a baby monitor out of her pocket and hands it to Trix. “Lay that by her head so she can hear him when he wakes up.”

Trix does as she says, and I can hear the sound of some cartoon playing through the speaker. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He’s worried about you,” Trix answers this time. “He seems better now though.”

“Yeah, Parker’s okay now.” Addy nods in agreement. “Smoke told him you would be better soon, and that calmed him down a bit.”

The thought of Layton taking care of Parker causes a warm feeling to fill me. When I was a girl, I always thought he would be the father of my children. Instead, my son has a father who doesn’t even want him, and people I don’t even know are having to take care of him. It’s enough to make me want to cry again.

“He’ll be better once he sees me awake.” I attempt to push myself up again and wince. “Shit, that hurts.”

“Doc left you something for pain,” Trix says, as she walks across the room and opens a door. She is gone for a second, then walks back into the room with a pill bottle and glass of water. “It says you can take two every six hours.”

After taking the pills, I gulp down some water and ask a question that causes my cheeks to heat up. “I hate to ask, but could one of you help me get up so I can go to the bathroom. I’ve been holding it since before I fell asleep.”

“Oh, shit,” Addy says, looking over to Trix. “Smoke says she’s not supposed to get out of bed until tomorrow.”

“I don’t care what Smoke says. Either I get up now, or I’m gonna piss the bed. Not really looking forward to sleeping in a wet bed,” I say, forcing myself to sit up. “So, I’m getting up with or without your help.”

“Smoke doesn’t have to know shit,” Trix says, as she stands up and walks over to the dresser. “We’ll keep it between us.”

She opens a drawer and pulls out a shirt, then walks back to the bed, reminding me that I’m sitting there showing off my body. “Didn’t think you’d want to walk across the room as naked as the day you were born.”

As she slides the shirt over my head, I raise my arms and let out a moan. Addy comes over to help. Once it’s on, she steps back and shakes her head. “Shit, girl. You’re in bad shape. I don’t think there’s a spot on you that’s not sporting a bruise.”

“Did Parker see the bruises?” I ask, worried about my son seeing me like this.

“Yeah, he did,” Addy answers with a nod. “I’m sorry, but your face is as bad as your body. There was no way to hide it from him.”

Before I can tell her it’s okay, Trix adds, “Hope they get the stupid asshole that did this to you.”

“It was some meth head named Torch,” I tell them, not missing the sound of indrawn breaths from both of them. “After I get out of the bathroom, y’all are gonna have to tell me who he is and what he has to do with my father.”