Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sutton
It took a few days before Pisces was released because he woke up the next morning with a low-grade fever.
Several rounds of broad spectrum antibiotics wiped anything that was brewing out of his body and now, he’s hanging at the clubhouse until he heals a bit more and can move without flinching.
Granted, around the men, he acts like he’s fine, but when it’s just the two of us, he lets his guard down.
Thinking back on it, I’m not sure what upsets him more, the fact that he’s unable to continue with his normal, daily activities or that his bike’s a mangled mess.
Orion has been working on it day and night, but from what I overheard last night, it’ll be better if it’s scrapped and he picks up another one.
Throughout the discussion of what the best outcome would be, I learned that the club is in dire financial straits.
Since it’s my fault that it was all but destroyed, I plan on buying him another one out of my pocket as a gift.
After all, if I hadn’t gained the interest of Allen, they wouldn’t be trying to figure out how they’ll be able to fund him another motorcycle.
As I turn my laptop on and prepare for a Zoom meeting, I see the message app at the bottom of my screen flashing at me. “What the hell is this?” I murmur to myself as I click on it. My blood freezes in my veins when I see the message from ‘an unknown user’ pop up.
Next time, it’ll be you.
Surely Jeffries can’t be that stupid? Between me and Pisces, we identified him, so why he feels so brave as to confront me like this is beyond me.
Before I can take a screenshot or even call anyone in to look at it, I watch my screen refresh and find the message gone.
Even though I was the only one who saw it, I plan to tell Gemini when he comes back from whatever he’s currently doing.
For now, I’ll tuck into my work tasks so I can be ready for my meeting.
I’m distracted throughout the entire meeting, only talking when prompted.
I answer the questions directed at me, but otherwise, I stay silent, my eyes often shifting to the square on the screen where Allen is, staring at me and smirking.
He looks proud of himself, as if he’s gotten away with terrorizing me and putting Pisces in the hospital.
I’ve never hated someone as much as I do him.
Not even my high school antagonists got this sort of a reaction out of me.
I didn’t let them, I was numb to their antics.
But Allen, he has every one of my emotions, anger and otherwise, revving into overdrive.
By the time the bigwigs call the meeting to close, I’m a seething, sweaty mess.
I stack my notes into the appropriate folders and place them in the files they belong to.
The guys gave me the empty space that’s directly off the entrance of the house to use as my office.
It’s sparsely decorated, only holding the things I need to complete my workday—a desk, chair, filing cabinet, and desktop computer.
I prefer my laptop because it has all of the software on it, but there are advantages to having the bigger screen.
Pisces helped me transfer some of the less sensitive things to it, and he’s looking into making it as secure as my laptop which will make working from home easier.
I pull up the dealership’s website and my eyes widen when I see the price tag attached to their inventory. “That’s how much I paid for my house!”
“What’s going on, Sutton?” Pisces asks, holding his side as he walks into the office.
“Are you still hurting?” I ask him, swiveling in my chair to face him.
“Just sore,” he answers. “My bruises have bruises.”
Considering the fact that he could’ve been killed that day, I’m glad that’s all that’s going on.
Still, I’m concerned because he got hurt while watching me.
Logically, I know it could’ve just as easily been one of the other guys, but I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Pisces.
He was the peacemaker in high school, and from what I’ve seen since being here, he still holds that position within the cousins.
“From what I understand, they’re pretty deep,” I state, standing up and walking over to him, intent on looking at the discoloration so I can get an idea what stage he’s in when it comes to his healing. He swats my hands away when I go to lift the hem of his shirt. “Let me see.”
“Are you nuts! Gemini sees you doing that and I’m toast, Sutton. We share a lot of things, like our rides and food, but what we don’t share, ever, is our women.”
I gasp and step back. “I’m not trying to lure you into bed, Pisces,” I say, berating him. “I just want to see what color scheme you’ve got going on.”
“Color scheme? Jesus, woman. Right now, we’re at putrid purple, a few sickly green, and one that’s a mild yellow.”
“So, you’re like a bag of Skittles,” I tease.
“Pretty much, but you’re still not seeing them,” he retorts. “You can see the ones on my arms and face and that should give you a good enough idea.”
Shrugging, I turn back to my desktop and sit down in my chair.
The good thing about working remotely is once I’m done with my daily tasks, I’m done.
“Wanna go shoot?” I ask as I back up my drive before shutting everything down.
“Because I’m done for the day, dinner is already going in the crockpot. ”
I still want to get him a new bike, but I need to talk to Gemini first. I don’t mind covering the cost or even financing it, but I suspect these men won’t let me. It’s gonna take a bit of finessing on my part to get my way.
“I’ll watch you and offer tips,” he replies. “Still don’t have all my reflexes fully back.”
“That works for me,” I say. I know I have to have at least one of them with me whenever I leave the clubhouse and even though we’re still on Kings property, I won’t mind the company as it’ll keep me from falling into my thoughts. I do plenty of that when I’m by myself in my room each night.
* * *
“Center mass, Sutton. Keep that in mind,” Pisces says as I reload my magazine while he puts up some new targets.
“A head shot works just as well,” I tease.
“But if it’s a moving target, going for the largest object is still your best bet,” he reminds me.
“You may not kill them, but you’ll stop them long enough to get away.
In fact, I think since you’re pretty much always here, we need to look at getting you a holster so you can have your gun on you, not in your purse. ”
Shaking my head, I wait for him to come back to where I’m standing and realize he moved the target slightly closer. “Why did you do that?” I ask, nodding toward the target.
“Because most threats aren’t going to be standing one hundred yards away,” he teases. “They’re going to be practically on top of you.”
“Fine, fine,” I mumble as I get myself set then quickly fire, aiming for the torso instead of the head and neck like I was doing.
“Much better, Sutton, much, much better,” he says looking at the decimated target. “Do you wanna go again or do you want to head back into the house and rustle up something to eat to last us until dinner?”
My stomach growling has me grinning. “Food. The answer is always food, Pisces.” Plus, I’m hoping that Gemini is back so we can spend a little time together.
With the men from East and West Texas returning home, he’s been working a lot with the new brothers, getting them acclimated, making sure the clubhouse is being restored to their specifications, and ensuring the shop that Orion’s going to run has passed its inspections.
“Then let’s hustle, woman, I can hear your stomach eating your backbone from here,” he replies.
* * *
We barely finish our lunch and put our dishes away as the rest of the club men come strolling in, all of them covered in mud and muck. “What were y’all doing?” I ask, my Texas twang coming out.
“We were in the barn, trying to clean it up,” Gemini remarks, coming up behind me and placing a chaste kiss to the nape of my neck, causing shivers to dance along my skin.
“If we’re going to get our beef business up and running, we need a place for the cattle to stay.
It’s just as ramshackle as the clubhouse.
It’s damn ridiculous how far the old president let his club fall. ”
“That’s what addiction will do to you, brother,” Hercules says as he pulls out the lunchmeat, bread, cheese, and condiments. “You stop giving a shit about the important things. It all becomes about chasing that high.”
“A lesson to us all,” Orion states, brushing his boots off at the welcome mat before coming inside and joining the rest of us. “I need to get to the shop and work on Pisces’ bike. Brother, I hate to tell you this, but it’s not going to be an easy repair.”
“I knew it wouldn’t after you showed me the photos,” Pisces says, his voice forlorn.
I chew on my bottom lip because unbeknown to them, while I was sitting here eating, I got pre-approved for a new bike, several if I’m being honest. My credit score as well as my financial portfolio is big, thanks to the inheritance I’ve received upon my twenty-third birthday a few months back.
If I knew what types of bikes the men were looking for, I’d just order them and surprise the lot of them.
I know some of the newer guys that have been brought in don’t have bikes for themselves and if I play my cards right, I can finagle my way into giving my guys new bikes and letting them pass theirs down.
The question is, how can I accomplish this without stepping on any toes and tarnishing their ego?
An idea strikes me, and I’ll need to be stealthy while doing it, but if I do it right, nobody will ever discover it’s me donating bikes to the Kings.
As the guys come up with their own ideas about how to manage adding the financial burden of a new bike, I sneak into my office, shut the door, and lock it behind me. I pull up the website and dial the number.
“West Town Harley, how can I help you today?” A cheery feminine voice asks.
“Hi, my name is Sutton and I have a dilemma I’m hoping you can help me with,” I tell her before laying out my plan.
I’m transferred to the manager where we work out all of the fine details, including the fact that these are anonymous gifts to the club, a welcome to town present.
By the time we wrap up, he’s sworn to me that my name will not be attached to any of the invoices.
In fact, he’s going to make a call to Gemini and invite him and the brothers out to visit them, then reveal the reason behind it once they’re all there.
Even though the bikes are for the four cousins, my credit is sufficient that we can get several of the base models as well, plus my inheritance will more than cover the cost. Orion can take the basic bikes and get them upgraded once his shop is open, since I set up an anonymous account in the club’s name for official, original manufacturer parts for him.
It’s the least I can do for them since they made my miserable high school experience far more tolerable.
I’m back in the kitchen with no one the wiser when Gemini’s phone rings. Hiding my smile, I see him talking and know we’re about to go on a road trip of sorts and I cannot wait!