Abraham
Iopened the hatch, and there was my brother, a big purple knot on his forehead, trussed up like a spring chicken.
He began to whimper when he saw me, shake his head back and forth.
As if I was going to listen to any of his pathetic excuses.
It didn’t matter what they were.
I grabbed him and dragged him out of the truck by his belt, to make sure he got a face full of gravel.
There was one guy left trying to stagger upright.
“Want to take my property? Want a piece of Legends MC? Come and get it.”
He turned and vomited into the bushes, then started crawling away as fast as he could.
Mac went to go after him but I put a hand up.
“No, leave him. Let’s make sure he tells any of his little bitch friends what happens when he tries to take on Legends.”
“Where’s your backup?” I taunted as I tied Grease to the truck hitch.
Then I bent down with my knife.
“What happened? Did you try to come after my ol lady?”
I began to carve into his skin, long bloody lines as Grease’s howl was audible even though the gag.
“He wishes,” Polly said in a bored voice.
“She got him good with a wrench,” Fizz said. “Appreciate the opportunity to make a grenade on short notice, too. My skills are as good as ever.”
Polly giggled, and I thought my skull would lift from my body with happiness.
I hadn’t heard that sound in so damn long.
“Gonna kill him, Mangler?” Ma asked.
I looked over at Polly.
Before, I might have killed him without stopping to ask anyone else’s opinion of it.
“You can choose,” I said, even though my fingers itched to throttle my brother.
Polly hesitated.
“You’d kill him for me?” she asked.
“Of course,” I growled. “He threatened you. That’s why, baby girl, he’s not getting out of here in one piece. But I’ll let you choose if he goes out of here in a body bag or not.”
Baby girl? Now why had that come out of my mouth? But even a hardass old fucker could be soft for his ol lady.
“I didn’t know you were such a feminist,” Ma said, lighting a cigarette.
“I’m evolving,” I said. “I respect the fuck out of women.”
There was an adorable little smile twitching up the corners of Polly’s lips, and the laugh lines around her eyes crinkled up.
“I’m afraid I’m a softie, Abraham. If you kill him, no one will ever know for sure what became of him. If you let him live, everyone will know you are not to be trifled with.”
I smiled at her.
“I like how soft you are. But you might want to look away if you don’t want to see a few bones getting broken.”
“I’m all right,” Polly said, but her face was a little pale.
I broke several more of Grease’s bones efficiently, then ripped the tape off his mouth.
“Guess what, fucker? You get to live for now. But the deal’s off if I see your sorry ass again.”
“And that deal only extends to the end of his property,” my mom put in. “I might have a few things to say about you not passing on the message after I left. I should’ve known you’d be the son who’d take after your daddy.”
I grinned as my Ma held out a tattooed hand to Polly and the rest of Legends MC.
“Good to see you, son. Don’t be a stranger now, you two.”
“Come visit anytime,” I said. “We’d—love to see you.”
My voice faltered off as I remembered it wasn’t a guarantee that Polly would be there with me. . .