Chapter 10 Never a Waste #2
My lips pressed together as I thought about that. I could see both sides to this because I’d love to take things into my own hands where Frank was concerned. “Does he break the law?”
Her tone became defensive. “Now, I didn’t say that. Though, Dad despises his road name because he got it by puncturing motorcycle tires, and that’s technically vandalism.”
“Vandalism is breaking the law,” I muttered.
“It’s a misdemeanor most of the time, Savannah.”
“So?” I asked.
“So, it’s not like he physically hurt someone… as far as I know.”
I laughed. “As far as you know! Do you hear yourself?”
“Why do you care? The two of you work together, it’s not like you’re dating or something.”
“No, but memories of my attack have come back to me and when I mentioned calling the cops about it, one of the other dancers told me not to because the Riot would take care of it themselves.”
Alanis went silent and I wished we were doing this on Face Time. Finally she said, “Anybody else, I’d tell them to inform the officers. But seeing as it was you who was attacked so badly, I’m with Desiree. Let the Riot handle this.”
“So you want him to break the law?”
In a gentle tone, Alanis said, “I’m not trying to make you feel bad, but you didn’t see yourself hooked up to an IV and your face all bandaged.
You also didn’t see what that did to Catalina.
” She paused and her tone hardened. “So yeah, Ted and his brothers want to take care of this, I say let ‘em, because jail time is too damned soft for the asshole who beat you.”
I took a deep breath. “And you don’t care if that means your brother could go to jail?”
“He’d be proud to serve that time if it meant he got revenge for you.”
“He would not,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Yes, he would because it’d be another way to show Dad what he should have done for Mom.”
That gave me perspective.
Punc wasn’t having lunch with me tomorrow because he was interested in me. He undoubtedly felt guilty for not protecting me from Ghost and Prime.
It all went back to a beef Ted had with his dad.
His parents had taken him out to dinner - leaving Alanis with a sitter, and the three of them were robbed at gun-point.
Somehow, Punc’s mom had been shot. She survived, but never recovered full use of her left arm.
From what Alanis told me, Punc not only blamed himself, but also believed his dad should have done more to protect his mom.
“Now you’re quiet,” Alanis said.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to get quiet, because that helps. Definitely gives me perspective.”
“Perspective?”
“Yeah, like why he’s been so attentive and why he’d join a group like the Riot MC.”
“That isn’t why he’s being attentive,” she said in a dry tone. “He’s into you. In fact, I confronted him about it before you got out of the hospital.”
I huffed out a short laugh. “Why would you confront him?”
She sighed, quiet and slow. “I love both of you, Savannah. Part of me would be beside myself if you two got together because we’d be family officially, but a bigger part of me thinks that’s not just a bad idea but the worst possible idea.”
“Why?” I blurted.
Her short laugh nearly said it all. “I know things about my brother that I haven’t told you and I’m not going to tell you. And vice-versa with you. Bottom line, I know his history and yours, and I don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”
“So much so, you told him to leave me alone?”
“No, I said I confronted him at the hospital. That’s all I’m giving you right now because this is a slippery slope for me.”
I laughed. “A slippery slope for you? How do you think it is for me?”
She scoffed. “It isn’t. I didn’t miss how you looked at Ted every time he was around since he got his bike. You’ve always had a thing for bad boys, Savannah. Not to speak ill of the dead, but unlike your mom, you’re smart enough to cut them loose before their bad-boy ways get you into trouble.”
My brows furrowed. “I don’t know if I should feel flattered or insulted by that.”
“I love you, but I hated how your parents treated you.”
I sighed. “I’m starting to think you and Punc compared notes.”
She chuckled. “Maybe once, but not lately. Just goes to show, they didn’t know what they were talking about.”
“I know that now, Alanis. I’ve taken up too much of your time, so tell Michael I said hi and give him my love for having my back from afar about the dancing and for sharing you with me tonight.”
“I’ll tell him hi for you, but the rest of that is bullshit. I don’t belong to him.”
I tilted my head back. “You know what I mean. You could have been doing better things than talking to me about your brother.”
“Stop it. Talking to you isn’t a nuisance, Savannah. Get that through your thick skull. Hell, this is the point where I want to wring someone’s neck. How did your parents let you get to the point where you thought shit like that?”
I sighed. “They had their own issues, Alanis. Love you. Have a good night.”
“Love you, too. I will have a good night since Michael just brought me a glass of red wine. Later.”
Punc
Unlike yesterday morning, Punc hadn’t heard Catalina leave for school.
His phone alarm went off at nine-thirty and he made short work of folding the sheets and leaving them on the coffee table.
There was half a pot of coffee in the kitchen, and he poured himself a cup.
He’d wandered back toward the bedrooms, and saw Savannah was asleep with a paperback book lying on the bed next to her.
From the coffee cup on her nightstand, he suspected she’d fallen back to sleep after being up.
Another sign she needed to take it easy - sleep was the best remedy for recovering from her attack.
He downed the rest of his java and went back to the kitchen. He wrote her a note on the dry-erase board, and rode to the clubhouse.
Ten minutes later, he went in through the back door to find Beast and Volt sitting at the small table shooting the breeze.
“About time you got here,” Beast muttered.
Punc shook his head and trudged to the coffee maker. “Don’t give me shit when I’ve only had one cup of coffee, Beast.”
“Sounds like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Volt said.
With a full cup of coffee, he turned to Volt. “No, I’m just not a morning person. Are we having church this afternoon? Or will it be tonight?”
Volt dragged his hand down his goatee. “Won’t be having church today or tonight. Too much is up in the air right now. We get everyone together, I want to make decisions. As it stands, we have to wait to find out if Prime will post bail and other shit like that.”
Beast shifted in his seat to look between Punc and Volt. “We aren’t certain that all of the Devil Lancers were rounded up. At least that’s what Cal told me when I got here.”
Punc sipped his coffee. “So we’re in a holding pattern, then?”
“For now. Why do you sound like that’s a problem?” Volt asked.
“There’s a reason I joined this MC, Volt, and it had everything to do with how the brothers stepped up to avenge Trixie.”
“What does Trixie have to do with anything?” Beast asked.
“It reminded me of what happened to my mom when I was a kid. Except Roll was hell-bent to get his pound of flesh.”
“All right, but that was six years ago,” Volt said.
Punc swallowed more black coffee. “Ava could have died last week, but nobody seems to give a damn. And nobody’s out to make any of those assholes pay for what they did to her.”
“Ava works for Platinum’s. She isn’t an old lady, there’s no comparison here,” Beast said.
Punc glared at Beast. “Bullshit. Trixie wasn’t claimed when everything went down.”
Volt sighed. “No, but she was in our clubhouse every free moment she had. Ava just started working for us earlier that week when she was attacked.”
“She deserves more than the fuckin’ cops picking up Prime and Ghost for fuck’s sake.”
Beast nodded. “Yeah, and we’re doing quite a bit for her. We’re handling her medical bills, Punc. That’s more than most employers would—”
“No woman expects to get beaten to a pulp in a fucking parking lot - especially when she follows our fuckin’ rules and has someone walk her to her vehicle,” Punc bit out.
Volt raised his chin in a slow nod. “You’re right, but our hands are tied here until we have more information, Punc.”
He turned his head and exhaled hard. His mind reeled at the notion of their hands being tied. Ghost and Prime sitting in jail made him consider getting arrested himself. At least then he could kick Prime’s ass. Thoughts of Prime reminded him of his schedule.
He looked back at Beast and Volt. “If I’m not mistaken, Prime was on the schedule today. Is that covered or am I working this afternoon?”
Volt shook his head. “Evict is covering Prime’s shift. You still got today off.”
Beast widened his eyes at Punc. “And I’m thinking you need to take a long ride, brother. You’re wound up pretty fuckin’ tight.”
Punc was wound up all right, he nodded and finished his coffee. “Yeah. I’ll find a way to take the edge off, Beast.”
At twelve-thirty, Punc parked his Honda CR-V in Savannah’s driveway. The pungent aroma of garlic and tomato filled the vehicle. His stomach had been growling off and on since he left the restaurant. He couldn’t wait for Savannah to devour her sub since he knew how much she loved them.
As he approached the front door, he considered how wrong this was.
What could he possibly give to Savannah?
She deserved someone more like Michael, his brother-in-law.
An upstanding man who would be home every night for dinner and see her off in the morning.
No matter how much he believed that, he couldn’t ignore the sour feeling in his gut at the idea.
He wanted to be that man because he loved talking to her every chance he got, especially late at night.