6. Char
CHAR
I sprayed down the bar for the third time and used circular motions to wipe it down.
It didn’t need cleaning. Nothing needed cleaning.
And yet, there I was, putting my back into it as I scrubbed away at the non-existent stickiness of our shiny new bar.
Despite the fact that I walked away with virtually no tips from the evening, I was glad no one came into the bar.
Between that agent, the sirens, and Deac’s cancellation, I was ready to go back upstairs, flop down into bed, and sleep the day away.
That was until the bell dinged above the door.
“Welcome to Bottle Grounds,” I said mindlessly as I slapped my damp rag over my shoulder, “my name is Char and I’ll be your bartend?—”
“Char,” Gauge said.
I whipped toward the sound of his voice as relief rushed over my body.
I couldn’t help the tears that sprang to my eyes as he stalked toward me, his shadow cloaking my body, even from a distance.
I wanted to hug him, but I stopped myself.
I slid my hands into my pockets to keep my body from running away with itself.
Why the hell did I want to hug him?
Wasn’t I supposed to hate these guys?
“Is Dallas all right?” I asked.
He nodded. “Close the bar for the night and go home.”
I blinked. “What?”
Gauge placed his hands on his knees and bent down so that his eyes were leveled with mine. “Close the bar, Char. Now.”
His voice made me shiver. I’d never heard his voice like that before. Low and strong. Commanding as if he wanted V.I.P. access to the confines of my mind.
However, as I searched his gaze, I found something worrisome.
I saw panic.
“When do you want it reopened?” I asked.
He slowly leaned up and turned on his feet, not bothering to answer my question. So I tried something else to capture his attention.
Anything to get some fucking details out of him.
“An ATF agent was in here earlier asking questions,” I said.
That stopped him dead in his tracks, but he didn’t turn around.
“Bar’s closed, everyone, until further notice!” he bellowed.
“What!?” DeShawn called from the kitchen.
That whirled Gauge around. “DeShawn! Close the damn kitchen! M.J.! Help Char close down the bar! Last call for drinks, everyone!”
But as I gazed around the bar, there was no one to cash in on anything. No one to order last-minute meals. No one to rush up and get last-minute drinks. The bar was still empty. Still desolate. Still unoccupied, except for the staff, of course.
“Should be easy enough, at least,” I muttered as I slid the rag off my shoulder.
Gauge moved like the wind, whirling around to face me. “You and I need to talk.”
I thumbed over my shoulder. “But I have to close down?—”
“M.J.!” Gauge roared.
I heard my best friend call out from the hallway. “What!?”
“Close down the bar!” Gauge exclaimed as he reached out and grabbed my wrist. “Now!”
M.J. peeked her head around the corner. “But I thought you said?—”
“Now,” Gauge glowered as he yanked my arm.
“Ah!” I squeaked.
I craned my head over my neck just long enough to take in my two best friends as they stared at me with wild eyes.
DeShawn stood there, holding a dish towel in his fist as anger wafted over his features.
M.J. pulled out her cell phone and pointed to it before sticking it into her bra, and she didn’t have to tell me twice.
She wanted me to keep my phone close.
And I was determined to do exactly that.
“Gauge, you’re hurting me,” I said as he tugged me into the back room.
He immediately dropped my wrist. “Upstairs. We need privacy.”
“We don’t have it back here.”
“I won’t tell you again, I’ll just sling you over my shoulder.”
I giggled. “Promise?”
He shoved his shoulder into the back door. “Come on, let’s go.”
He wasn’t the least bit deterred by my little joke and that worried me.
Determination clouded his features, and I figured if he needed to meet with me, then maybe I’d get some answers on why the hell our day had careened so far out of control.
He ushered me out the back door before leading me up the stairs to my own apartment, and I wiggled in between him and the door long enough to get it open.
He damn near shoved me inside.
“Hey! Watch it, Gauge!”
He slammed the door closed and locked it before heaving a heavy sigh.
All at once, his demeanor changed. Gone was the strong, stalwart mountain man, and in its place was a tired, haggard man using my door to prop himself up.
Despite him being the biggest guy in the room, I didn’t feel threatened by his presence.
I wanted to know what had him so panicked, though.
“What’s happened, Gauge?” I asked in as calm of a voice as I could muster.
He pushed away from the door and turned to face me. “What ATF agent?”
I folded my arms over my chest. “You first.”
He raked his gaze down my body, and I figured he was about to fight me. Or pin me to the wall just so he could fuck the information out of me.
But instead, he surprised me. “Our mechanic shop was attacked. One of our men is severely injured, and another was taken.”
The pain in his voice was unrelenting. My God, I couldn’t imagine what these men had been through.
“Was that why I heard all of the sirens earlier while that agent was in the bar?” I asked.
Gauge’s stare ignited. “Yes.”
I unfolded my arms. “Special Agent Monica DeFleur. She was in here earlier asking questions.”
He took a step toward me. “What kinds of questions?”
I shrugged. “She asked me about the bar. About its change of ownership. What I knew about you guys. Whether or not you were taking care of the bar. Things like that.”
“Did she show her badge and I.D.?”
I nodded. “She did.”
He took another step toward me, closing the distance between us. “Were they real?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Even if they weren’t, I’d have no idea how to check for that.”
He raked his hands down his face before it dawned on me. “Wait, there’s a chance she’s not an agent?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know. We don’t know enough. There’s never enough to go off of.”
He paced around my living room. Around and around, circling the couch and coffee table as if it were his little slice of paradise that he protected for himself.
He muttered things beneath his breath that I couldn’t catch.
He raked his hands down his face so much that his skin turned red.
Had I not known any better, I would have said he was a madman with the way he was acting.
I hated seeing him in such distress.
“Gauge,” I said as I walked over to him.
“Sign, we need a sign,” he murmured.
“Gauge,” I said as I reached my hand out, “can you hear me?”
“I need to call Deac. He needs to know. That’s what we’re missing.”
“Gauge,” I whispered as I settled my hand in between his shoulder blades.
He turned so quickly that it made me gasp, which caused him to take a step back.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
“You’re different from them, you know,” I said.
Gauge rushed over to one of my living room windows and pulled the curtain back long enough to gaze outside. “Keep these pulled at all times, all right?”
I nodded. “All right.”
He turned back toward me and pointed to the door. “And don’t open up for anyone who won’t announce themselves beforehand.”
I nodded again. “Of course.”
Then he sighed so hard that his shoulders sagged. “I care too fucking much.”
“That’s not a bad thing, you know.”
“It is when you deal with death like we do.”
“What does that mean?”
Finally, he met my eyes, and when he did, the sadness rolling behind them stole my breath away.
“The last time one of our guys was taken, Deac’s father died.”
The statement broke my heart. Not metaphorically, either.
I felt it cracking in my sternum as pieces dropped into place.
His frantic talking. His curt words. The way his eyes stayed just a bit too unfocused.
I knew exactly how he felt, too. PTSD was a powerful force.
I dealt with it on occasion. Nightmares that woke me up, requiring hot showers to stop the trembling.
An uneasy mind that swirled with questions whenever a familiar scent became too much to bear.
Losing a father, in any way whatsoever, was traumatizing to a child, no matter the child’s age.
I wanted to wrap Deacon up in my arms and hold him close until everything blew over.
I settled for walking over to Gauge and rubbing his back.
“Mmph,” he grunted as his eyes fell closed.
I curled my fingers against him and scratched softly. “There we go. Deep breaths. In through the nose, and out through the mouth.”
He did as I asked, his back hunching as his spine protruded closer to me.
The length of his back alone had to be at least as long as my own legs, and it took the whole of my outstretched arm to reach up to the top of his spine.
He shivered as I dragged it down, my nails hitching every so often against the stitching on the back of his leather jacket.
Then he shrugged off my touch and turned around. “We need to know what side you’re on.”
“What?” I asked.
He loomed over me as his face sunk into darkness. “Are you with us or against us, Char?”
“The hell is that supposed to mean?”
He leaned down into my face so close that I felt his breath on the tip of my nose. “Char, it’s never been more important. Are you helping us, or hurting us?”
And while I had no fucking clue what possessed me to answer the way I did, it didn’t stop me from murmuring the one word that changed my life forever.
“Help,” I said breathlessly. “I’m helping you guys.”
His gaze clung to mine, seemingly gazing into my soul. “You’re going to need an alibi every evening from this point onward. Don’t ask why, just nod if you understand.”
I did as he asked and nodded, but good God, it took everything inside of me not to keep spouting questions.
I needed more answers. More details.
I wanted to know all of it. “Am I allowed to ask what kind of an alibi I’m going to need?”
He straightened his back. “Doesn’t matter, so long as you have it. Though, it would be best if your alibis came from one of us three.”
I assumed he meant either him, Dallas, or Deacon. “Why?”
“So we know for certain that we can back it up.”
“All right, so we’re taking shifts. Fine by me. Who’s on duty tonight?”
And that’s when his gaze fell to my lips. “I can be if you’d like.”
I licked my lips and watched as his mesmerizing trance clocked my every move. His body heat radiated against me and the lingering heat from his breath still cased my nose. My gut jumped. My toes curled. All three of them? Sleeping with all three of them? Did I even dare?
“Fuck it,” I murmured as I fisted Gauge’s shirt.
I yanked him down and crashed my lips to his.