19. Shane
19
SHANE
T he shed was a rundown building with some straw on the floor, but mostly dirt. Claudia stood at the far end, feet apart, arms folded over her chest, and a glare directed at Machete and me. A few of our guys were outside, the ones we trusted to keep away the ones we didn’t trust. Likely she had seen them. The boards that made up the wall weren’t evenly spaced. There were cracks and some holes, and you could hear and see quite a bit if you paid attention.
“You want to explain what this is about?” she spat.
That look on her face, in her eyes—I hadn’t realized that all the girls in Connor’s family were seriously smart. Every single one of them.
I glanced at Machete. “Is she your old lady?”
He blinked slowly and turned to gaze at her. Then he sighed and started forward. “I guess so.”
I almost laughed. Quite a ringing endorsement. That spoke volumes.
I shifted back, waiting to see how he’d handle this. Evidently, she was his, so he’d take the front seat in this interrogation, and that’s what this was about to become.
“Claude,” Machete started in a low tone, and he stopped halfway between her and me. “We’re in a situation here.”
I was surprised to see how she softened when Machete spoke.
She kept her arms folded on her chest. “I’m seeing that, considering we took off, fucked a bunch, and now we’re back, but where the hell are we?” She looked through the shed’s wall at the guys moving around out front. “Roadie told me we were here to party. I’m not getting the party vibe out there.” She raised her chin, raising her voice too. “I’m not stupid, Ghost. I remember you, remember how you used to like my sister back in school. I saw how you reacted to her. You stay away from Kali. She’s too good for you.”
I agreed, but I stepped forward. She’d brought me into this.
Machete knew that too, stepping back as I now took the lead.
“Your sister is here,” I told her.
Surprise flashed in Claudia’s eyes before she banked it, but she took a step back, her shoulders tense. “She’s here for me?”
“She was, but now she’s here for different reasons. We’re in a situation. You been following us all the way since Friendly. You been hanging around, could’ve almost been a hangaround if you were a guy. You ain’t a sweet butt. You ain’t a girlfriend either. So like I said, we’re in a situation.”
Her eyes clouded over, but she didn’t move. Her voice came out small. “What’s the situation?”
I sighed because damn this . Claudia was smart, and I was exhausted, and I had two more battles waiting for me. Kali. Estrada. I didn’t have time to do this the proper way, but I couldn’t do it this way either. I couldn’t lay out the cards and hope Claudia would do the right thing. She wouldn’t. That’s just the woman she was. She kept her cards close to her chest, all the time, no matter who those cards could hurt. She didn’t care. Never had.
“I don’t trust you, not one goddamn bit,” I informed her. “But you’re here for your safety, and your sister is here for her safety too. You spent a lot of time around the club before we landed here and got you with Machete, so I don’t have one clue what you heard. You know who we are, what we can do, so I’m in a bad way here. I don’t want you whispering anything to your sister.”
I gave Machete a look. As if he could sense my question, he gave me a nod.
We both turned and focused back on Claudia.
Dammit . I had to do this, so I advanced.
Machete held back.
Claudia was his woman, but this was for the club and for my woman too.
Claudia’s arms fell, and she started to the side, trying to get away from me.
“Don’t! Don’t, Claude. Not him,” Machete called.
She stopped, a deer-in-headlights look coming over her at Machete’s command, and her eyes tracked back to me. She held firm, her face becoming a blank canvas, but I saw a tremble under her chin.
I kept moving, backing her until she was against the wall. I invaded her space, but didn’t touch her. I leaned down, leaned over her, and moved so I was completely blocking her view of her man.
“This is between you and me.” I kept my voice low.
“Back off or I’ll ruin things between you and my sister,” she hissed.
“Yeah. That’s part of this too.”
She raised her chin, but the tremble was still there.
“Normally I would strap you to a chair,” I told her. “I’d hook you up to a lie detector and grill you that way. That’d be the humane way to do it. Or if I was pissed, would maybe take a knife to you. I’d cut away all those little curves and pretty appendages you have, like your eyelashes. Your fingernails. I’d pull a third of your hair out. Little nicks here and there to make you squirm, and if you continued to fight, I’d move to your appendages. We don’t have time for that, so instead I’m going to tell you a few things. First, if you turn snitch on us, you’re dead. Machete will do it. Second, if you say anything to your sister to turn her against me, you’re dead in a slow and agonizing way, and it’ll be me who does that. Third, you fuck over your man right now, hook back up with Roadie or some other biker here, I will gut you and leave you in the desert. These are not threats or ultimatums. These are promises. You’re on my radar. This ain’t high school. This ain’t Friendly, Indiana. You fuck up here, it’s your life. How you go down, depends on you. You got me?”
She stared back at me, not looking away. Not for a second. There was no flinch. There was nothing, but I’d gotten to her.
“You touch my sister, and I’ll destroy you,” she said.
“Too late for that.” I walked out, past Machete. “She’s all yours.”