Grip’s Protection (Brutal Sinners Arizona)

Prologue

Ivy

The creaky hinges of the screen door announced someone’s arrival. I stood at the stove, eyes on the front of the house as I waited to see who it was.

Muff stepped inside, eyes sharp as he looked around. Until he saw me in the kitchen, anyway, then they lost some of their edge.

The trailer I shared with my dad was small, and the main area was like one open room. You could stand in the kitchen and see just about everything.

“Hey,” I said to my best friend, flashing him a big smile.

“Hey, Ives,” he said, his smile much more forced than mine. “Your pops home?”

“Nope,” I replied with a shake of my head as I went back to pushing the ground beef and noodles around in the skillet.

Late Summer in Florida was no joke, and with the air conditioning shot, I probably shouldn’t have been using the stove.

But I had to eat, and this was what we had in the house. “Want some dinner?”

I nodded to the generic beefaroni box kit sitting sideways on the counter.

Sad as it was, that was the extent of my expertise in the kitchen.

I learned from a young age that if I wanted to eat, I was gonna have to do it myself.

It wasn’t a surprise that I lived off of boxed crap, frozen meals, and canned fruit.

I couldn’t lie, I was a sucker for canned pineapple rings. I ate those things all the time.

Muff looked lost in thought for a minute as he watched me stir. I could tell he wasn’t even thinking about what I’d asked him. I tried not to tense up. Muffle was fun. Despite his road name, he was the life of the party. Always had been. So when he got like this, I knew something serious was up.

The question was: would he tell me?

Growing up in the club, I knew the ins and outs. I knew that I was to know nothing, ever . The club kept a tight lid on what they were up to and the surrounding threats, and if I so much as heard a whisper of something, I best forget it right away.

“Nah,” he finally said with a shake of his head.

His deep blue eyes met mine, one of them partially covered by a stray clump of his black hair. He brushed it away and tried to send me a smile.

Again, it came off tight and forced.

I noticed. He knew I noticed. Yet, neither of us called it out.

With a bit more attitude than I meant to let slip out, I flicked off the burner. The loud click of the knob rang out like a shotgun blast. I turned and stared at him with a hand on my hip.

He walked around the counter and stood in front of me. I was tall, but I still had to crane my neck back to hold his eyes. There was a sadness there that I’d never seen before, and it caused me to drop the attitude quick. My brows furrowed as he chewed on the inside of his lip.

It was on the tip of my tongue to demand he say something because the weird air hanging between us was getting to me.

He reached up and snaked his hand into the collar of his shirt. A second later, he pulled out a chain with a reaper pendant hanging from it. My mouth parted in shock as he carefully maneuvered it over his head and held it out to me, the grim reaper swinging like a pendulum from his clenched fist.

“Take it,” he said to me.

“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t need it. I’m part of the club.”

I knew what a big deal it was, but I didn’t need it. I had protection because I was born into it, because of who my dad was.

“Ivy,” he said with a serious bark. “Take it.”

“No,” I said again, taking a step back this time.

He followed me, a bit more menacing than I’d ever seen him.

“God fucking damn it, Ivy.” He shoved it into my hand, closing my fingers around the pendant and holding on for a beat. “Trust me on this. Take the fucking necklace and don’t let anyone know you have it. If shit happens, I want you to run. You promise me that, okay?”

“Blane,” I whispered, using his real name. I’d known him since I was in diapers, I was allowed to use it at times like this.

“You run. You go to Arizona or Indiana, and you claim sanctuary.”

What the fuck was going on?! My heart was racing, and I swear my eyes refused to blink as I stared up at him, waiting to find out why he was doing this.

“Promise me!” I jumped at his sharp bark.

“Yeah. Okay.” I said, brow furrowed as I stared into his eyes. “I promise.”

His chest sank with an exhale.

I held the necklace tight, unsure of what to do with it.

I couldn’t wear it. Someone would notice, and I wouldn’t have any answers to give them when they asked about it, and they would surely ask.

This wasn’t the place where people minded their own business, even though that was what they expected everyone outside of their little club to do.

“I gotta go,” he said. He took a step back but continued to stare at me.

I stood still, as if I were a living picture. A live snapshot, meant to be preserved.

I didn’t like the churning in my gut. Or the way he stepped in and hugged me for a long minute.

Or the way he looked back over his shoulder at me right before he ducked out the screen door.

He was my best friend, but there were rules here.

I didn’t get to know everything about his life.

I didn’t get to know all his secrets. The funny thing was, I probably knew them all anyway.

I might not have been smart in the sense that I made great grades and had a chance to go to college, but I knew this life.

I knew the things that went on. The shit no one talked about.

The laws that were broken.

The bodies that were buried.

The betrayal bubbling just under the surface of nearly every member.

It was my life, my home.

I opened my fist and stared down at the insignia I knew like a ghost brand on my life.

There were times I’d felt worried. Club rivalries. The law. Other outside factors.

But I’d never felt unsafe from the club I was born into.

Until now.