19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Kaison
Cora doesn’t answer my texts. I know today was her father’s procedure, so I’m sure she’s busy, but I’d like to know she’s okay. She didn’t outright tell me about the stuff going on with her father, and it hurts a little, but I have to respect her privacy. It’s a good thing I was at the diner when her friend mentioned it or I wouldn’t know anything at all. I keep hoping she’ll open up to me about it—and other stuff—but I can’t force her. Learned that the hard way with my brother. The more I go at him, the more of an asshole he is. Cora isn’t my brother, but I know she’s stubborn, so I’m pretty sure she’d react the same way. Plus, I’m still not in her good graces after my last fuck up.
“Where’s everyone at?”
I look up and see Coyote grilling me, waiting for an answer.
“How the fuck should I know?” I bark back.
“Because you’re the fucking VP. It’s your job to babysit. ”
I huff out a disbelieving laugh. “You fucking kidding me right now?” I get to my feet and step to him.
“Not even close. Someone has to keep an eye on these fucking toddlers.”
“Yeah? And what the fuck have you been doing?”
“Trying to handle our shit!” he shouts right in my face.
I don’t know what crawled up his ass, but whatever it is better vacate immediately. I am in no mood to deal with his fucking attitude, and I will lay him out cold.
“By getting us nearly killed?” I ask, knowing I fucked up the moment I say it. I mean, I don’t regret it, and I guess it isn’t actually a fuck up, just that it’s going to piss him off. And it does. Cause the jackass swings on me—and fucking misses.
I duck, giving him a shove. He stumbles back, whirling on me, ready to throw another punch when Grizz walks in. I see him from the corner of my eye. He freezes the second he realizes what’s happening, but then he lunges forward, getting Coyote around the waist and moving him away from me before I knock his head clean off his shoulders.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Grizz shouts. keeping a wrestling Coyote away from me. “What are we fighting for?”
“That fucking prick came at me for no good goddamn reason!” I bark, jabbing my finger in his direction.
“Bullshit! You’ve been giving me hell since I took over, and I’m tired of it.”
Grizz, for some reason, lets him go. He keeps his distance, though .
“Because we all know your stupid ass don’t wanna be here!”
“Like hell I don’t!” he bellows, spit flying everywhere. He smacks his hand against his chest. “This is my family, too. My father was part of this too!”
“And you always made it clear how not into it you were. You don’t fucking deserve your title.”
“Okay, guys, let’s calm down, yeah?” Grizz says, moving between us and holding his arms out to push us away if need be.
My heart is fucking pounding, my hands itching to knock Coyote out. This argument was a long-time coming.
A few other guys walk in, but I can’t make out who it is. My vision is blurry. I’m so fucking mad.
“In the meeting room,” Grizz says, jerking his head toward the door. Neither of us move. “Now!”
With a growl, I shove past him and storm into the room, wanting to put my fist through the wall. When I turn around, I find Coyote on the other end of the room and Grizz shutting the door.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on?” Grizz asks, looking between the both of us. Considering he’s the enforcer, he’s pretty good at handling shit. Not that he’s going to have me and Coyote kissing and making up or anything, but at least he knows what to say and how to break up a fight.
“This prick walked in with an attitude, giving me shit!” I shout, pointing at Coyote.
“I asked him where everyone was for a fucking meeting,” he growls back .
“Bull-fucking-shit!” I yell. “You told me I was a fucking babysitter!”
Grizz mutters something under his breath, shaking his head.
“You both need to chill the fuck out. We can’t have the Prez and the VP going at each other. What the fuck is going to happen to this club?”
“It’s already going to shit since he took charge!” I argue.
“Now that is out of line,” Grizz says to me seriously.
“No, it fucking ain’t,” I grit out. “Asshole didn’t want any part of this club, yet he comes in and takes over, making all kinds of changes and putting us in danger and shit.”
“You know that wasn’t his fault,” Grizz adds calmly.
“Nah, but if maybe he paid better attention and gave a shit about us, it wouldn’t have happened. He hasn’t done a single goddamn thing since they almost killed me and Rhino.”
Grizz sighs heavily, looking at Coyote. He knows I’ve got a point, but is he going to be man enough to agree with me? Or is he going to keep his head up Coyote’s ass?
“What the fuck you want me to say?” Coyote barks, throwing his arms up.
“There have been a lot of changes in the club over the last few years, especially recently. Shit isn’t going to go smoothly right off the bat. You two,” Grizz points between me and Coyote, “need to get on the same page before everyone gets wind of this. I don’t give a fuck how you do it, but you need to do it.”
“Seriously? That’s all you got?” I huff out a disbelieving laugh .
“What the fuck you want me to do, hold your goddamn hand?”
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, storming from the room and slamming the door behind me. I hop on my bike and take off. Fuck all of them.
Was walking into a rival club’s bar alone a great idea? No.
Was going after their Prez smart? Absolutely not.
Was taking my anger out on the five IR pricks worth it? Hell fucking yes.
I’m bleeding from all sorts of places, my body aches, my muscles burn, but goddamn this feels good. I’m alive, and it’s fucking amazing.
None of them have given up yet, and neither have I. Pretty sure I’m going to die like this, and right now, can’t say I give a fuck. These pricks almost killed me and guess what? They’re getting it right back. If Coyote can’t handle this shit, I fucking will.
I lift a bar stool and swing, hitting two assholes right in the face. They both stumble back, the first one falling to his ass and not moving. Good. One down; four to go.
Someone grabs my shoulder and wails on the back of my head. I duck, turn, and jab my elbow into their waist and dodge forward. They slam into the bar, letting out a grunt. I leave him be and move to the side just as someone else runs at me. I pick up another stool and slam it onto his back. I’m going to be hurting tomorrow, may even be out for days, but fuck, this adrenaline feels damn good right now!
“I called for backup!” the bitchy fake-blond bartender shouts from the back room. Looks like that’s my queue to leave. I snatch up a broken stool leg from the floor, jam it into someone’s shoulder, then skedaddle.
I hope on my bike and take off blindly. I somehow make it to my house without wrecking my bike or running off the road. Going right for the bathroom, I turn on the shower as hot as it’ll go, strip my clothes and get in. I stand there for a long time, the water running red for an amount of time that’s concerning. I’ll check myself out once I’m dried off, but I’m sure I’m fine. No one pulled a knife or a gun—surprisingly.
I really need to get some darker fucking towels. They always get ruined by blood. I toss it out of the bathroom to throw in the trash later. The fog on the mirror ain’t letting me see shit, so I grab another towel and wipe it down, noting the cut on my cheek and another on my brow that’s still bleeding. Probably needs stitches but I don’t have a suture kit, so I’ll have to make do with what I have. I dig out my med kit and get the glue out. Shit burns as I put it on, but it’s not my first rodeo and it won’t be my last.
When I’m done with that, I head into my room to grab a pair of sweats to put on. It’s still early in the day, but I don’t plan on going fucking anywhere. I need a break from reality .
I drop face first onto my bed and regret it the second it hits the pillow and my cuts sting. I lift my head. Blood on the pillow. Fuck off. I make quick work of gluing it up again, and when I get to my bed this time, I go down on my back. It’s lights out seconds later.
Banging on my front door wakes me. It’s dark, must be late. Whoever is knocking must have a fire under their ass because they’re knocking like their life depends on it.
Groaning, because every fucking inch of my body isn’t happy, I get up and stiffly walk to the door. Okay, maybe I regret going after those pricks for the sole fact I feel like shit. Guess I should work out more. I pull the door open, nearly falling to my ass when I see my brother. Can’t remember the last time he was here.
“The fuck do you want?” I bark.
He scowls, shoving past me.
“I, unfortunately, was voted in to come check on your ass,” he says as he turns to face me. “Heard what you did. You feel good about that? ‘Cause we’re all going to pay for it.”
“Oh, fuck off, Kolt. They got what they deserve after shooting at my ass.”
“And if you’d just waited and not flipped out on Coyote, you’d—”
“No!” I seethe, pointing a finger in his face. “You’re my brother, do not side with that prick!”
“Oh, that matters to you now? Being brothers is suddenly important?” he asks cockily.
“It’s always been important! What the fuck does that even mean?”
Kolton lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Are you really that blind?”
I throw my arms up. “Apparently I fucking am. Because I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Kolton purses his lips, looking away from me. After a few moments, he says, “Dad.”
It’s all he says. Just one word. But there is so much emotion in that one word, and emotion isn’t something I get from my brother. Ever. So it scares the shit out of me. My body sheds every ounce of anger it was holding onto, and I feel a little nauseous.
I take a slow step toward Kolton. I’ve never seen him look so vulnerable before.
“It’s okay to be upset—”
“I’m not fucking upset!” he shouts, turning his angry gaze on me. “He was…” He pauses, shaking his head. “I fucking hated him, Kaison. How didn’t you see it? How didn’t you see what he was doing to me?”
“What he was doing to you?” I ask, confused over what the fuck he’s talking about. Punishing him? Yelling at him? The spankings? Kolt was a disrespectful little shit. He deserved all that from Pops.
“Fucking forget it,” he says, moving toward the door. But I’m faster and I stand in front of him.
“No, I will not forget it. You’re my brother, and something has been up with you for a while. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he grits out, and his glossy eyes nearly have me on my knees. I’ve never seen my brother cry. Not a day in our lives. Not even when we were kids. He was always strong, always in control. What the fuck did my father do that has him feeling like this?
“No,” I say again, this time more firmly but more calm. “No, Kolt. Talk to me. I’m your brother, for fuck’s sake. ”
A choked sound leaves him. He starts to pace and mutter to himself. I stand there, watching him, hoping he’s going to say something, and I don’t have to keep going at him. I’m worried. I want to know what’s going on. And honestly, I don’t know how to get through to him.
“I’m gay,” he finally says, stopping and looking at me dead in the eyes as if he’s just admitted he killed someone. I’ll say, it’s a shock. I didn’t think he was gay. I’ve seen him fuck plenty of women, but I don’t care that he is. Does he think I care? Is this what he’s upset about?
“Is that supposed to bother me?” I ask.
“He made me gay.”
“Who?” I ask carefully, not sure we’re having the same conversation. Is this one of those things where he’s only into one guy? Like only gay for one dude? I’ve heard of that before.
“Dad,” he chokes out. “Dad made me gay. He—” His eyes go unfocused, and the next words that leave his mouth have all the air leaving my lungs. “He did things to me.”