Chapter 11 Goose
GOOSE
“You need to get to the Vault.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Davis is here, and he’s fucking wasted,” Memphis answered.
“It’s barely eight o’clock. Did something happen?”
“Fuck if I know. He came in sauced and just kept at it,” he explained. “Now, he can barely keep his fucking head up, and he’s refusing to let one of us take him back to the clubhouse.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
I’d barely ended the call when I was out the door and in my truck. The drive to the Vault was a blur of red lights and quick turns. Davis getting hammered wasn’t anything new. He’d always been a heavy drinker, but usually, he had the sense to consider his surroundings.
He had no business doing this shit at the Vault.
And Memphis’s tone had my gut twisted into knots.
I didn’t bother looking for a parking spot.
I simply pulled up to the side of the building, cut the engine, and charged inside.
The noise and lights faded into the background when I spotted my brother slumped over one of the back tables.
His head was hanging forward, and there was an empty bottle of cheap gin next to him.
I’ve seen this show before, and it never ends well.
“Jesus.”
I walked over and gave him a hard nudge. “Davis. Wake up!”
No response.
“Davis!” I huffed again as I shook him a little harder. “Wake the fuck up.”
Davis lifted his head a fraction and glanced up at me with glassy eyes. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t make out anything he was saying. It was just garbled noise, and that annoyed me even more.
“What the hell are you saying?”
He squinted at me like I was the one who didn’t belong there, and he was pissed that I’d disturbed his beauty sleep. He tried again, slurring his words even more, then laughed under his breath and dropped his head back on the table.
Motherfucker.
I scanned the room, and my frustration spiked to a new level when I saw that a couple of the girls were watching.
Memphis stood in the corner, monitoring the situation, and I had no doubt that he was ready to step in.
I leaned in with my mouth close to Davis’s ear and barked, “You can’t be doing this shit, man.
We kick assholes out for this kind of shit. You know that.”
I felt someone step behind me, and when I looked up, I wasn’t surprised to find Seven standing there. “He’s not going anywhere like this.”
“No. He’s not.”
“Let’s put him in the office,” Seven suggested. “He can hang out on the couch for a bit. Sleep it off until we can get some coffee in him.”
“That’s a good idea.”
We each took an arm and lifted Davis to his feet, hauling him toward the back. He mumbled something unintelligible, but he didn’t resist. He just fell limp, letting his feet drag behind him as we continued to the office.
When we got to the office, Seven helped me get him over to the sofa, and Davis was out the second his head hit the cushion. I looked up at Seven and grimaced. “Sorry about this, brother.”
“Nothing for you to be sorry about. It’s his ass that got in the bottle.” Seven cocked his head. “Gotta tell ya, it’s been a hell of a night.”
“It sure has.” I motioned my head toward Davis as I said, “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Seven nodded, then turned and headed back to the main floor.
I grabbed a blanket and threw it over Davis before turning out the light.
I got an uneasy feeling as I closed the door, but I shook it off.
Davis had gotten carried away. In a few hours, he’d wake up with a pounding headache and a mouth full of regret.
I lingered outside the office for a moment, and when I was sure Davis wasn’t going to stir, I made my way out to the main floor. I wasn’t on the schedule tonight, but I figured I’d give Seven and the others a hand—not that they needed it. It was Tuesday, which meant fewer people and fewer problems.
But even on low nights, things could go south fast.
It just took one asshole, one bad mood, and a few too many drinks to turn a calm night sideways. Our job was to make sure that didn’t happen.
When I made it over to Skid, he gave me a quick once-over and asked, “You good?”
“Been better.”
“He had a few too many. It happens.” He kept his eyes trained ahead as he added, “Don’t get in your head about it.”
Too late.
Things had been good. Davis had been working and staying out of trouble, and things between us had never been better. Skid might’ve been right. Maybe this was just a fluke, but my gut told me there was more going on.
I didn’t say that to Skid. Hell, I didn’t say anything at all.
I just nodded and went back to watching the floor.
Half an hour later, Lu wandered over. She was a cute girl.
She hadn’t been there long, so the brightness in her eyes hadn’t dulled yet.
It would happen eventually. It happened to all the girls, especially the late-night dancers like her.
She stood next to me and relaxed her shoulders as she said, “Slow night.”
“Best kind,” Skid replied. “Gives us all a chance to reset.”
“True.” Her eyes skirted up to me. “You’re awfully quiet tonight.”
“Just got a lot on my mind.”
“Oh, that can be dangerous.”
“For all of us,” Skid teased.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Lu replied, trying to have my back.
Her gaze lingered on me for a second. Not bold. Not pushy. Just sweet and maybe a little curious. There were undertones there if I wanted to read them.
I didn’t.
She was the kind of girl you could have a good time with without all the complications, and if my head was a bit clearer, I might’ve taken her up on that unspoken invitation.
But my mind wasn’t clear.
Not even close.
It was constantly bombarded with thoughts. Davis. The club. Her.
I know.
I was supposed to put all that behind me.
I didn’t.
I tried. I really had, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was like a damn ghost, haunting me with the memory of her smile and the sound of her laugh. Yeah, I was fucked.
I needed a second, so I turned to Skid and said, “Going to check on Davis. I’ll be back in five.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I just turned and started down the hall.
I wasn’t all that worried about Davis. He was a grown-assed man.
He’d had his fair share of drunken nights and didn’t need babysitting.
But he gave me the excuse I needed to move.
When I got to the office, I eased the door open, letting the light from the hall trickle in, and my stomach dropped.
Davis was no longer on the sofa.
I stepped in further, making sure that he hadn’t rolled off and ended up on the floor, but there was no sign of him. Thinking he’d gone for another drink, I started out of the office but stopped when something in the storage room caught my attention.
I went to take a look and was shocked to find Davis crouched down in front of the safe with tools laid out on either side of him. Damn. He wasn’t drunk. He never was. This was all just a ploy to fuck me over, and I’m not going to lie.
It hurt.
Hell, it hurt like a motherfucker.
He was so busy trying to open it that he didn’t even notice that I’d come up behind him until I growled, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing??”
Davis looked up, and relief flashed through his eyes the second he saw that it was me. He quickly stood and said, “I can explain.”
“There is no way you’re going to be able to explain your way out of this.”
I knew Davis was up to no good, and I gave him the rope to hang himself. Thankfully, the noose was set before it burned the club. I’d never forgive him for stabbing me in the back yet again, and I’d never forgive myself for giving him the fucking knife to do it.
“You don’t get it. I’m not like you. I haven’t had everything handed to me on a fucking silver platter.” He motioned his hand toward his chest. “I need this.”
He always needed something.
It didn’t matter what he had or how much he’d been given. He always needed more.
And I was over it.
He had pushed too far.
Without warning, I swung, and my fist caught his jaw, jarring his head sideways.
He stumbled, but he didn’t go down. Instead, he came back at me with a wild punch that caught my cheekbone and brought stars to my eyes.
I recovered quick and went back at him. We crashed into the bookcase, and books and boxes went flying.
It didn’t slow us down.
He tackled me, sending us both slamming into the wall. I felt my lip split when his fist met my mouth, and the taste of blood seemed to fuel my rage. I punched him in the ribs and head-butted him in the nose, causing him to grunt. But he came up swinging.
His fists were sloppy now, and I used it to my advantage.
I hit him again and again.
Every swing carried years of heartache. Lies I’d swallowed. Excuses I’d made for him. Disappointment.
But the hurt burned out fast, like gasoline catching fire, and what was left was pure rage. I pinned him to the wall with my forearm and snarled, “You played me.”
“Sure did,” he replied, sounding winded. “And you bought every second of it.”
Then, he laughed.
That’s right. The motherfucker laughed.
I was about to lay into him again when Seven charged into the room. One glance around the room, and he knew what was up. This was my mess. I was the one responsible, so I stepped back and released my hold on Davis. “Get out.”
“Come on, now. You don’t gotta be like that.”
“I’m not going to say this twice.” I leaned in closer as I growled, “You’re done here. You don’t step foot in the Vault again. You don’t come near the club. And you don’t come near me. Ever.”
Davis used the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth. “And what about my shit?”
“It’ll be at Dad’s in an hour.”
He looked at me but didn’t say a word. There was no apology in his eyes. No regret. Nothing at all. Just anger that he hadn’t gotten what he wanted.
He turned on his heel, and on his way out the door, he spat, “Fuck you. Fuck all of you.”
Memphis and Skid were out in the hall. They’d heard everything and followed him down the hall, making sure he didn’t try anything stupid.
I didn’t move. I just stood there, chest heaving and staring at the tools on the floor. Seven didn’t speak either. Hell, there wasn’t anything he could say that I wasn’t already thinking myself.
I loved my brother. I always had and always would. But he’d crossed a line. A huge, blaring-red line no man should ever cross. There was no coming back from that.
Not now. Not ever.
Seven turned to me, and his face was void of expression as he said, “You gotta know he can’t walk away from this untouched. Your brother or not, he tried to steal from us… The club’s going to want their pound of flesh.”
The silence stretched between us.
“We can take it now, or we can take it later…”
“Do it now.”
He gave me a nod, then slapped my shoulder and walked out of the office. Davis had no idea what was coming, but I did. Each of the brothers would take their turn, beating the ever-loving hell out of him.
A small piece of me felt bad for him.
But a bigger piece knew he had it coming.
It’s hard to face the fact that blood doesn’t always equal family. It sure didn’t for me and Davis. I was done hoping that we’d ever be more than strangers with the same last name. Davis had made sure of that.