Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
brOOKLYN
My heart was racing as I walked in the dark as far away from the bar as possible.
Viper had caught me leaving at the last minute, asking me questions again…
and flirting. I was hoping that I’d managed to make my escape by claiming that I needed some air from not feeling too well.
I knew they had all been heavily drinking the whole night, and maybe, if I got lucky, he wouldn’t notice how long I was gone.
Either way, I needed to make this quick.
I turned around to face Gunner when I’d walked far enough away from the bar. I was relieved to see him and happy that he called…at least he wasn’t the kind of guy who’d just ignore me endlessly just because we’d gotten into an argument.
“So, what do you have to say for yourself?” I said and crossed my arms over my breasts.
My eyes were adjusting to the darkness of the night, but his blue eyes seemed to twinkle in the dim silvery moonlight surrounding us.
He towered over me, a hulking bulk of a man…
all muscle and strength, and I was quickly reminded of why I was so damn attracted to him.
“Well, I do want to apologize for my behavior. I should have explained it better,” Gunner said. I pursed my lips.
“You’re not very good at apologizing, are you?” I asked him, arching my eyebrows. Gunner wasn’t in good humor unlike me. I was just glad to see him again. I was just glad that we might have a chance to make up.
“I said I wanted to apologize,” he said and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“But you didn’t actually say an apology,” I tried to smile at him, but he was making it difficult to.
“It’s hard to beg for an apology right now given where you are,” he said, and I rolled my eyes at him. Not this again! I thought we had gone past it. I thought he wanted to apologize to me for asking me to stay away from my friends.
“What are you doing here then, Gunner?” I snapped. He took a step towards me. Our proximity made my breath choke up in my throat. Just a step in my direction had a crippling effect on me that I couldn’t explain.
“I’m here to take you away from this place. To a safer location,” he said. I opened my mouth then shook my head in frustration.
“Why are you bringing this up again, Gunner? I thought you wanted to apologize,” I said, and he stepped towards me again.
“You don’t know them, Brooklyn!” his voice rose. I glared at him.
“And you know them, how? I’ve spent all my life in their midst, Gunner.
They are not what they seem from the outside.
Yes, they can come on a bit strong and they live life differently from the regular Joe…
” I was speaking too quickly now, desperate for him to see reason.
If we were going to have any kind of relationship…
whatever it might be…he would have to accept my friends.
But even so, the Dragon Knights accepting him was another question entirely.
“Brooklyn, you’re mistaken about them,” he interrupted me, and I rolled my eyes at him again. He was not hearing me.
“I think I know them better than you do! You’ve made your judgments about them, just like everyone else in Long Beach has.
If you’re not in their bad books, there is no need to worry.
And I’m not in their bad books, Gunner…like I said, I’m like family to them,” I said, stopping myself just in time from mentioning how involved my family had always been with the Dragon Knights.
Gunner was glaring at me, as though everything I was saying was just shooting past him without making a dent in his convictions.
“Can we just leave this place? Can we just talk somewhere else?” he asked. I took a step away from him.
“You’re not listening to what I’m saying.
You will have to eventually accept the fact that the Dragon Knights are a part of my life,” I told him in a quieter voice.
As annoyed as I could get with them, they were still my family.
Gunner was silent as he clenched his jaw at me.
I could see him flaring his nostrils, drilling a hole into my face with his blue stormy eyes.
“I accept that they’re a part of your life, Brooklyn. Or have been. I just want to make sure that it’s a thing of the past,” he said. I huffed at him with my mouth hanging open in a sarcastic smile. Like hell I would let him make that decision for me.
“You’re just like everyone else, aren’t you?
Just like all the other guys I know. You think that just because we slept together…
that I’m somehow now your property? That you can tell me what to do?
” I snapped. My voice had grown high pitched, and I could feel the anger coursing through my veins.
I’d had enough of trying to reason with him.
No matter what my feelings towards Gunner were, I now knew that it was a lost cause.
I brushed past him as I tried to walk away, but Gunner gripped my wrist and yanked me towards him. The same way Viper always did, but with him I felt an electric shock run down my spine.
“Let me go, Gunner!” I screamed, and he immediately released my hand. At least that bit was quicker than Viper did, but I was still enraged.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you, but I don’t want you going back in there, Brooklyn. Not before you know what’s going on,” he said.
Gritting my teeth and shoulders heaving, I glared at him.
“Then why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” I hissed.
Gunner took in a deep breath, and he looked as though he was struggling with what he had to say.
“Well?” I urged him on. He threw me a look.
“They’re running a prostitution ring. So you need to get out of there,” Gunner said flatly.
“What?” I found myself laughing from the shock and surprise of the absurdity of that statement.
“Brooklyn, you heard what I said. They’re operating a sex trade, and you aren’t safe to be around them,” he said and stepped towards me again.
I stepped away, flapping my arms away from him, because I didn’t want him to touch me.
“You’re joking, right?” I said, that smile of shock still lingering on my face. Gunner had to have been watching too many Netflix shows. Sure, the Dragon Knights weren’t an average group of guys, but they sure as hell weren’t running a prostitution ring.
“There’s nothing funny about this,” Gunner said, and I looked away from him. This had to be some sort of mix-up. Daddy and Luke would never have been involved in something like this.
“I’ve known them my whole life, Gunner. You’ve got it wrong,” I snapped. He clenched his jaw, glaring at me with furious eyes.
“It’s not been going on for long, Brooklyn…so I don’t blame you for not knowing about it. All I want to do is get you out of this place before you get involved,” he said as I shook my head in rage.
“Are you crazy? Where are you even getting this information from?” I said. He looked away from me. Gunner’s eyes narrowed as he looked towards the bar.
“Brooklyn…let’s just leave,” he said in a quieter voice.
“I’m not going anywhere till you tell me where you heard this.
Is that what people are saying? They’re all rumors, Gunner.
This is what the media does to discredit motorcycle clubs.
You wouldn’t know how it is for them…but it’s all lies!
” I found myself screeching with anger. He had no idea that by saying these things about the Dragon Knights, he was also insulting my family.
He was blackening my brother’s memory. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this angry with someone. And it was Gunner of all people!
“It’s not a rumor, Brooklyn,” he said quietly. I had to strain my ears to hear him.
“Right. What is it then? You have some sort of random evidence for it? Did one of the groupies spread this shit?” I knew my voice was loud and screechy now, but I didn’t care.
What he was saying was affecting me to the core.
Neither Daddy nor Luke would have stood for prostitution, and I had known these guys all my life…
whatever they were…they were not abusers of women!
No matter how they treated the groupies, those women wanted to throw themselves at these guys.
“Brooklyn…” Gunner said my name quietly while my body shook with rage.
“What is it, Gunner? How do you know this?” I was screaming at him now, moments away from slapping him across the face.
“I’m in the Bad Disciples,” he said.
I felt like the ground shaking under my feet. The Bad Disciples? The rival gang! I’d just slept with someone from our rival gang?
“No…” the word escaped my lips, and Gunner placed his hands on my shoulders. I yanked myself away from him, and a look of desperation entered his eyes.
“Listen to me…” he began to say, but I had interrupted him.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I had no idea!” I was screeching again.
“It doesn’t matter right now, Brooklyn. Neither of us had a clue. I didn’t know you were associated with the Dragon Knights, either,” he said while I breathed in and out, trying to keep myself standing.
“You wanted to know how I know what these guys are up to…I’ve seen it with my own eyes, Brooklyn. I know what they’re doing,” he said. I stepped away from him, backing up closer and closer to the bar.
“You’re lying. You’re a liar!” I said, and Gunner shook his head.
“The Bad Disciples are planning an attack on the Dragon Knights, and you need to keep your distance from them, because shit is going to go down. I don’t want you to get caught up in it. Brooklyn…please, just listen to me,” he was following me as I kept backing away from him.
I couldn’t believe it…this couldn’t be true.
Gunner belonged to the Bad Disciples? What would Luke have said?
They were our archrivals. I remembered how Daddy spoke about them and the fights that Luke had gotten into with their members.
There was no solidarity between the two clubs, and they would never forgive me for what I had done.
“Was this some kind of prank? Was it a dare? Did your friends dare you to sleep with me?” I hissed at him. Gunner stopped in his tracks.
“I swear to you, Brooklyn, I didn’t know who you were till you mentioned you’re friends with the Dragon Knights. But I don’t care; I just want you to be safe before things start falling apart,” he said as I clasped a hand to my mouth in agony.
“This is wrong. You’re lying. This is what you people do to us, and I’m not going to fall for it,” I screeched then I heard the door of the bar open.
The music and voices from inside grew louder, and I whipped around to find Viper at the door.
He was a dark silhouette against the lights of the bar, but I could tell that he was looking at me.
With any luck, Gunner was covered in the dark shadows of the parking lot to not be noticed.
“Brooklyn Jenson, you’ve been out here for too long! Come back in here, sugar. We’re waiting for you,” he said in a slurring voice that was drowsy with alcohol.