Tiny (11 page)

“What are you thinking,
boss?” Lash asked.

“The Lions have been handled,
and the drugs Alex sorted out. I think there’s another threat out there. I
don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.” Taking another deep drag on his
cigarette, Tiny looked over the landscape. Fort Will was his town. It was where
he’d lived his whole life. He’d brought the town out of the gutter, giving it
protection and striving to make a living.

“We’ll keep an eye out and
see if anyone looks out of the ordinary,” Nash said.

“Okay.” He dismissed them.
They were all leaving when he called Murphy back. “Get me Whizz. I need to
speak to him.”

****

After Killer tried to hurt
Zero and Butch, nothing else happened. When Friday arrived, Eva was more than
ready to finish the party and get home. Her father had landed at the airport a
few hours ago, and he was on his way to the house. Tiny was locked in his
office. Their one night together hadn’t changed anything between them.

Staring at her reflection
Eva nodded. She couldn’t change her dress or rush to the hairdressers to fix
her hair. Running her hands down her thighs she waited for her nerves to stop.
She was nervous about her father. Ned Walker had the ability to spot something
within a person that they wanted no one else to see.

The last thing she needed
was for her father to be angry at Tiny. They’d slept together. She didn’t need
her father defending her honor or anything stupid like that.

Picking up her two light
suitcases she headed downstairs and placed them beside the door.
Tiny’s
door was still shut. He’d been locked in the office
all night. She’d phoned Alex to tell him in case Tiny wasn’t asking for help. Twice
she walked upstairs coming down with heavier cases each time. She was surprised
by how much she owned.

On the final trip Tiny was
stood at the bottom of the stairs. He wore a pair of new jeans and white shirt.
It was the best anyone was going to get for him to be smart. He rarely wore a
suit.

She felt her pussy clench at
the sight of him. His age never affected her. The man himself though, affected
her deeply. She knew what it felt like to have him pounding inside her. Every
part of him was strong.

Licking her lips, she held
onto the case.

“You’re still leaving?”

“I’m not needed here
anymore. It’s time I moved on. I’m not getting any younger,” she said, trying
to make a joke.

“Is that supposed to be
directed at me?” he asked. He folded his arms over his chest. Once again she
remembered him holding her in place in the shower. Fuck, he truly had wiped the
memory of every other previous lover, even though there
was
only one. She couldn’t even think of shower sex without
thinking of him.

“No. I’ve never had a
problem with your age.” Tucking her hair behind her ear, she stared past his
shoulder. “I told you I was going. I never led you to believe I was staying.
Tate is pregnant. She’s going to be a mother herself. You’ve got the club. I
need to find something for me.”

She stopped talking as his
fingers caressed over her knee. Up he went to her thigh caressing and stroking
her.

“You’ve got me.”

She expelled her breath and
stared into his eyes. “It’s not enough.”

“Goddamn it, Eva. What do I
need to do?” he asked.

“Nothing.”
The door was banged invading their time together.
“That’s my dad.”

Tiny didn’t move away from
the stairs stopping her from answering the door. “I thought he was supposed to
meet us at the compound.”

“He rented a car. He’s
taking me to the airport straight from the club. Tate organized the baby shower
so I was around to see all three of them.” His fingers were still caressing her
thigh.

Another bang on the door
made her jump. Ned wouldn’t wait for long before he made his impatience known.

“She’s going to need your
help. I can pay you double to stay.”

“No.” She pushed his hand
away. “I’m going, Tiny.”

He moved out of the way, not
that she gave him a choice. Going to the door, she opened it without looking.
Ned, her father, stood with his arms folded. He was as large as Tiny. He was
older than Tiny, but he kept himself in good shape.

“Daddy,” she said, going
into his arms.

“Baby girl, I was beginning
to worry I’d forgotten our arrangements.” He embraced her, squeezing her close.

“I was getting the last of
my bags. Sorry it took me so long to open the door.” She pulled away, smiling
at him.

Even as she smiled, happy to
see her father, a part of her was hurting at leaving Tiny behind.

“Let’s get these bags in the
car, and then I really need a drink.”

“Did you come alone?” she
asked, needing him to talk to avoid the obvious question.

“Yeah, Gavin is training my
fighters. He’s looking forward to seeing you again.”

She tensed at the other
man’s name. “Dad, I’m not going back to him. Any matchmaking you’ve got planned
can stop today.”

“I’m not going to do
anything, honey. Gavin’s a real asset to me.” Ned took the cases from her.
Together they walked to the car. Tiny had disappeared into his office. She
hoped he hadn’t seen her reaction to Gavin’s name.

At the car, she handed over
her cases.

“What’s gone on between you
and Tiny?” Ned asked.

“Nothing.”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“You’ve fucked him, haven’t
you?”

She must look like a
strawberry. Her cheeks had to be on fire. Ned always got to the point with
everything. She’d grown up around a lot of gruff language.

“I don’t want to talk about
it.” She made to walk away. He caught her wrist stopping her from escaping.

“If you want to stay I’ll be
happy to spend a few hours with you and leave you here.”

She looked up at him seeing
the sincerity in his eyes.

“I’m leaving. I’ve got to
leave. Tiny hasn’t done anything wrong. This is entirely my decision. Please
don’t start thinking he’s done something wrong. He hasn’t.”

“Who are you trying to
convince?” Ned asked, folding his arms. She stared at the tattoos across his
knuckles. The words “FUCK OFF” stared at her. He’d gotten them in prison many
years ago.

“No one.
I’m just convincing you so you won’t kick his ass.”
She smiled at him, hoping he wouldn’t see past the lie.

“Honey, I’ll be kicking his
ass for letting you go.”

Shaking her head, she
watched him place each case in the trunk of the car. “You won’t.”

Ned slammed the trunk down.
His gaze went to the house. Looking behind her, she wondered what he was
looking at. The doorway was bare.

“Your man is looking at you
through the window. He’s not going to beg you, Eva. If this is what you want,
then you’re going to be disappointed.”

Letting out a sigh, she
turned away from the house.

“I’m not, Dad. Leave it
alone.” She tucked some hair behind her ear and started walking toward the
house.

“Eva.” Ned called her name.
Turning back to look at him, she waited for him to respond. “What are you
running from?”

Staring at her father, the
man who’d been the saint in her story but the devil in so many others, she
wondered how he could be two different people. She’d never once asked about her
mother or why he did what he did.

Eva knew why she was leaving,
but she knew her father would make her face what she was running from. She was
running from pain. Tiny was her one weakness, and she’d been brought up to
never have a weakness and to face the person causing her pain.

“Your feelings for him are
not going to change, not even if you put another state between you,” Ned said.

“Is that how you felt with
my mother?” she asked. She saw him tense, but she didn’t care. Tiny was her
weakness as he was the only man, besides her father, who could cause her pain.

Spinning on her heel she
walked back into the house. Tiny was stood in the doorway of his office.
“You’re really going?”

“Yes.”

He stared into her eyes. She
saw the lust, the fire, and the burning passion smoldering within his depths.

What was she waiting for?
Eva knew he wouldn’t beg her to stay with him.

“Sorry,” he said. Tiny
hadn’t broken eye contact with her.

“What? Why?”

“I’m sorry for the pain I’ve
caused you.” He stood hard, unyielding against the door. “The women were a
distraction. I never meant to hurt you. It has been too long since I cared
about anyone. Tate is my daughter and I loved her, but being with other women
would never hurt her.”

“Where is all of this coming
from?” she asked.

Tiny stepped forward,
cupping her cheek. She felt the calluses on his palm as he caressed her flesh.
“You’re leaving, and I need you to know.”

She pressed her hand on top
of his. “The leader of The Skulls is apologizing to me?”

“You deserve it. All the
shit I put you through, it’s the least I can do.”

Eva frowned at him. “You’ve
been talking to Tate.”

His daughter was the only
person to make Tiny see reason.

“She has a way about her
that is hard to ignore.”

Kissing his palm, she
stepped away. “I’m going to the club. I’ll see you there.”

Without looking back she
grabbed her purse and walked out to the car where her father was waiting.

Her heart was pounding, and
she hated the pain she was feeling at walking away. Her love for Tiny wouldn’t
go away overnight, but she wasn’t ready for this, and neither was he.

“Let’s get this over with,”
she said, climbing into the car.

Ned didn’t say anything as
he started up the car. Staring at the wing mirror she saw
Tiny
walk out of the house. Staring straight ahead, she wouldn’t let herself give
into the need to go back to him. He was her past, and she’d learned long ago it
was easier to walk away than stay fighting a lost cause.

****

Snitch walked through town
wearing the garb of a trucker. He’d killed the man who owned the milk truck
outside of town at a motel. No one paid him any attention as he blended in. His
hair fell around his face, covering up the tattoo on his neck. Keeping his hands
hooked into the straps down his body, he stared left and right, taking
everything in. For twenty years he’d been waiting for the right time to come
back and claim what was his. When he’d been pushed out of his town, he’d lost
everything. Snitch didn’t have a club or anyone he could trust. Everyone he
knew had died that night. Over the years he’d planned and built up a club going
from state to state to find the men who’d follow him without question. Building
up a club was not fucking easy, especially, a club he that needed to have his
back and be willing to take a bullet for him.

Looking around the town, he
breathed in the fresh air knowing his twenty years of work were about to pay
off. He’d never acted rashly. The years he’d waited were worth it as he felt
victory so close at hand.

Tiny sure had turned the
town into a profitable area.

His men were waiting for him
over thirty miles out of town. Snitch had wanted to be the one to check out his
old home. Each of his men had explored the town of Fort Wills without being
detected, and it was his turn to check out his old home. The people were so
cheery. None of them knew what he had planned for this little town. The law
enforcement would go after The Skulls. He had a plan, and it was all down to
timing. During his years he’d learned to become a patient man to go after what
he wanted. The men had been with him for some time. They were much better than
the crew that had died over twenty years ago.

“Murphy, we’ve got to go,”
Tate said. “How can I have a baby shower without being there?”

He rounded the corner to see
Tiny’s
daughter stood with her hands on her hips.
Next to her was a Skull. The leather cut of his jacket showcased who he
belonged to. Slowing his pace, Snitch saw the Skull putting a wicker basket
into the back of the truck.

“Hold your fucking horses,
woman. You’ve turned the club into a fucking fairy land. I’m not having you
bitch at me over missing something,” Murphy said, opening the basket to show
his woman. Snitch didn’t see what it was. He didn’t need to. The glow coming
from Tate was evidence of what he’d done.

“Oh, baby. Have I told you
how much I love you?”

Tate threw herself at
Murphy.

Pulling out his cell phone,
Snitch looked down at the screen, heading straight for the couple. When he was
close he made sure they’d have to see him. Some thrill at being seen went up
Snitch’s spine. The little shit wouldn’t know him. None of
Tiny’s
club would know him. He’d heard about Mikey being killed, which was a fucking
shame. Snitch would have liked to have killed the fucker himself for turning
against him.