Chapter 11 Over Thirty Brothers #2
“Prime got out on bail earlier today. Or, I guess yesterday afternoon, now.”
“Okay,” I drawled.
“He won’t be a threat to you… or anyone. He’s been dealt with, and you can rest easy.”
I fought against a sigh even as I debated asking my next question. “Did you… did you do anything illegal?”
He slid his hands down until they rested on my shoulders.
“I got payback for you, Savannah. He planned to frame me, and I damn sure gave him what he deserved for that failed plan. Is assault illegal? Yeah. If that’s a problem for you, tell me now.
Because one thing’s for sure, I’m not sorry, and it’s only illegal if he reports it, or someone else witnessed it. ”
My best friend’s words played in my mind. 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 gazed up into Punc’s blue eyes. “He was going to frame you?”
His head twisted a touch even as he lowered his chin in a strange nod. “I shouldn’t have told you that, but texts he sent to Ghost on a burner phone indicate that.”
I lowered my head and whispered, “I thought something happened to you. That was what scared me before you even left last night.”
Using the tip of his index finger, he tipped my chin up. The corners of his lips quirked ever so slightly - what he had to smile I about, I had no idea. “You haven’t been around the whole club, Savannah. We’re a brotherhood, and everyone one of my brothers has my back, and I’ve got theirs.”
“Plenty of people say things like that, but what does that mean?”
His jaw shifted and he exhaled through his nose. “That’s club business, and since you aren’t my ol’ lady, I can’t share that with you.”
“Right,” I breathed.
He cocked a brow. “Do we have problems, sweetheart?”
I pressed my lips together. He wasn’t like Dad, but he wasn’t afraid of walking on the wrong side of the law, either. No matter how conflicted I might be about that, what was done was done. And deep down, I didn’t feel all that bad about him and his MC brothers dealing with Prime.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think we have problems, honey. I was just… I didn’t expect this to rattle me so much, or for you to be gone so long.”
“I’m here now, Smythe, and everything is fine. I need to take some aspirin, and get some sleep. Turk wants me at Platinum’s in five hours. Be good if I can catch a few winks before then.”
I glanced at the microwave and saw the time read six-sixteen.
“We keep the aspirin in the cabinet over the coffee maker. I didn’t sleep that well, and I’m not trying to be forward, but I’d feel better if you slept next to me.
You know, just sleep. Besides, the couch is okay, but a bed is far better. ”
He stared at me, then nodded. “All right, Savannah. I’ll be in there soon.”
Punc
Later that morning, Punc trudged into the office at Platinum’s and lowered himself into the beat-up chair opposite Turk. Glancing around the room, he saw Yak, Volt, and Beast were there and for once, he wished they weren’t. This didn’t require an audience.
Not as far as he was concerned.
“Before you start, I slipped last night when I called Ava my woman. I know the brothers are concerned about it. I’m not involved with her. Hell, I repeatedly tried to talk her out of dancing before she was hospitalized.”
Turk’s dark brows drew together and he frowned. “Find that hard to believe, since you referred to her as ‘sweet Ava’ four days after the attack. In my eyes, anger’s a lot like alcohol, it has a way of bringing out the truth in the heat of the moment.”
Turk was right, but he couldn’t let him know that. Savannah was determined to keep her job here, and Punc wouldn’t be the reason she got fired.
“She’s my sister’s closest friend. I’ve known Savannah since she was eleven.”
“Who’s Savannah?” Beast asked.
“Ava,” Turk said, then he glared at Punc. “Why didn’t you say anything during the auditions?”
Punc tightened his grip on the plastic arm rests. “It caught me off guard seeing her that day. I hadn’t seen her since my nephew’s birthday. Had no idea she was there until I gave her a contestant number that morning.”
He blew out a sigh, wishing for the ninety-ninth time that he’d told her she couldn’t dance at Platinum’s. If he had, maybe she wouldn’t have been beaten. Never would have been in the hospital for a week.
Another damned memory that played on a loop for him. Day after day at her bedside, not knowing if she’d recover fully. One more reason she deserved a better man than him.
“Yo! Earth to Punc, are you listening?” Yak demanded.
“Sorry. Zoned out,” he admitted.
Turk threw a pen on the desk. “Well zone-in, Puncture. This shit can’t happen again.”
He narrowed his eyes at Turk. “Again? I’ve never fraternized with the dancers.”
“You’ve flirted,” Turk said.
“No, I haven’t. And if polite conversation is flirting, then bring in Tundra, Evict, Chain, and any other brother who works here so they get the same talking-to.”
Volt sauntered to the desk and propped a hip on the corner. “You’re right. You don’t flirt any more than the rest of the brothers.”
“Glad you see that, Prez.”
Volt crossed his arms on his chest. “But we’re all concerned about where your head is at with Ava.
You lost your shit after the attack, you spent all your free time at the hospital.
Once we knew it was Prime behind it, you offered to get arrested to seek vengeance against him.
Last night, you threw down so hard, I thought it was because they wanted to frame you…
but you calling her your woman got everyone’s attention. ”
Punc swallowed hard just thinking about last night.
He’d been so swept up in his rage, he didn’t even remember the things he’d said.
He met Volt’s dark gaze. “She and my sister are thick as thieves, Volt. She’s family, and you got no idea how much I wish I’d stopped her from dancing.
If I’d done that, no matter how pissed she’d have been, she wouldn’t have been beaten to hell and back. ”
Volt nodded. “Yeah, quit thinking that shit. If it hadn’t been her, it’d have been another dancer.”
“Wouldn’t be so sure,” Yak muttered. “Prime’s text to Ghost said Punc was the perfect mark for her murder because Prime saw him hanging with her outside the Platinum’s.
Add to that, Ava single-handedly packed the house that night, and dozens of men are countin’ down the weeks before she hits the stage again if the TikTok comments can be trusted. ”
Punc twisted his face toward Yak. “She is not dancing again.”
Yak shrugged.
Turk shook his head. “That’s her call when the time comes. And if there’s nothing going on with you and her, then it damn sure isn’t your call. I’ll remind you, again, there’s no fraternization with the dancers.”
Punc struggled to keep his temper in check. “I haven’t fraternized with any of the dancers, Turk. Flirting isn’t fraternization.”
Volt straightened from the desk. “Technically, you’re right, Punc. It isn’t. Bottom line, keep it professional with the women.”
By some miracle, he kept his tone neutral. “No disrespect, Volt, but are Tundra, Evict, and Chain gonna get the same spiel? Singling me out when I haven’t done a damn thing wrong is whacked.”
Volt’s head tilted in concession. “They’ll get the same message.”
Punc lifted his chin, but couldn’t keep himself from asking, “If for some reason, shit changes, what then? Are you gonna fire her? Do I lose my patch?”
Volt crossed his arms and heaved a sigh. “We don’t strip patches for shit like that. But you need to see this from a woman’s perspective, Punc. Not hard for them to construe something as harassment when you thought it was something harmless.”
“She’s family, Volt. I’m protective of her, so I won’t harass her. Especially not with all the shit she’s been through,” he said in a tight tone. His stomach twisted at the idea of Savannah being harassed by anyone.
A sense of relief stole over him knowing he wouldn’t lose his patch if he “fraternized” with Savannah.
That posed the ultimate challenge. He intended to protect her.
Sleeping on her couch the past few days put him in such close proximity, every night, he fought the temptation to climb into her bed.
After catching five hours of sleep with her this morning, he’d be even more tempted.
He locked eyes with Turk. “Full disclosure, I’ve been sleeping on Savannah’s couch since she got out of the hospital because I wasn’t going to leave her and her sister alone when the asshole who beat her could still be out there.”
The satisfied expression on Turk’s face was just shy of full-on gloating. “Now that Prime has been taken out, and Ghost is in jail, you won’t have to do that any longer.”
He bit his tongue in an effort to keep himself from speaking or reacting in any other way. Rather than give Turk a chin lift, he turned to Volt. “Is there anything else?”
Volt stared at him longer than necessary, like he knew there was more to Punc’s story than met the eye. He dragged a hand down the side of his face. “No.”
Yak pushed forward from where he leaned against the wall. “You got today and tonight off. Catch up on your sleep.”