Chapter Eight
Tornado
She deserves better than me…but I don’t think I can be that selfless. She’s mine now. -Tornado
Silver’s house is next to the large wooden cabin that serves as our clubhouse. His home is a large, dark A-frame structure with a wide deck and a red door. It looks like a family home, not the home for a roughened military man who leads a biker club.
I swing my leg over my bike and watch as Cat takes in the sight.
She looks confused, as if her imagination doesn’t fit with the picture before her.
I get it. It’s what I thought too when I was eighteen and first met the Silver Snakes.
They’re so tough on the outside, but there’s a core of softness there too.
Silver at heart is a family man. He would do anything to protect his little sister Elsie.
I knock on the door with one hand while holding onto Cat’s hand with the other. I can feel her hand shaking so I squeeze it, trying my best to comfort her. She stiffens when Elsie answers the door.
“Tor!” the teenager shouts and throws herself into my arms. “It’s so good to see you. You didn’t come to the picnic the other day. I told Sil that we needed to…”
She chatters on and I smile indulgently at her, while attempting to pull back. Cat’s hand has gone slack in mine. “Elsie, you’re choking me.” I laugh heartily.
The tiny brunette finally pulls back. “Oops, I got too enthusiastic,” she wrinkles her nose, “as usual.” Her gaze slides to Cat. “And you’ve brought a girl.” She claps her hands together. “Oooh, Tornado has a girl with him. How exciting!”
I laugh again. Elsie is always entertaining. “Yep, I sure do. This is Catherine, Cat as I call her.”
Elsie grabs one of Cat’s hands. “Omg, I hope you stay around. We need more girls around here. All I see is guys, guys, guys. I need a girl to talk to.”
Cat looks a bit overwhelmed, but she smiles softly. “I hope I get to stay awhile.”
My heart warms in my chest. God, I hope she stays forever.
“Elsie, move aside. They’re here to see me.” The gruff voice startles all three of us.
Silver appears in the doorway, towering over his little sister. His cold blue eyes scan all of us and if I didn’t know him, I wouldn’t see the slight thaw in those eyes when he looks at Elsie. “Go in and do your homework. I know you’ve got a math test Monday.”
Elsie scowls. “It’s the weekend, Sil. Ugh.” She stomps off, giving us a wave over her shoulder. “I’ll see y’all both when I’m let out of homework prison!”
Silver rolls his eyes and gestures inside. “Come on inside to my office, guys. I suppose we have a few things to discuss.”
Cat stiffens again beside me, and I send her a reassuring look. I know Silver will help us.
Silver leads us back to his office and tells us to have a seat. The club logo is painted on the wall behind him, the winding snake appearing a little more intimidating than usual behind the desk of the large, tattooed man.
I glance around the room, taking in what Cat sees.
Besides that snake logo, it looks like a normal room.
But Silver…Silver is a big man. And he is a terrifying presence if you don’t know him.
Both of his muscled arms are covered in tattoos and his face looks like it’s carved from granite.
He has to be tough, to handle the twenty or so men that follow him.
I can sense Cat’s fear. But I know Silver. I know he’s only going to help us.
“Catherine Scott, it’s nice to meet you.
” He steeples his fingers on his desk. “Tornado has told me some of your history, but I want to hear everything from you. I know of your dad,” he says in a hard voice, “and I know of the reputation of the Scott family. I know his ties to the Brewer family and all they represent.”
Cat squirms in her chair. She bites her lip and then sends me a look of what have you brought me into. I nod at her.
“You can trust Silver, honey. He’s on our side.”
Silver looks back and forth between us. “Catherine, Tornado says that you’re his. That means you’re a part of our family here. We take care of our own. You will be protected on this land and beyond from now on. No one will touch you.”
He says it with such finality that I feel Cat let out a long sigh of relief. She believes him. Silver emanates an aura of no-nonsense. The man doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean.
“Tell us what happened, Catherine, and I’ll see what I can do. We’ll be ready if anyone comes, I promise.”
Cat nods. “It all started when…”
I listen as she tells Silver about eavesdropping on the conversation between her father and the sheriff.
I feel rage roil in my gut again when I hear what they planned to do with her.
I know Cat loves her father no matter what he has done in the past. To hear him simply give her away like that… it had to have hurt my girl.
I’ll make him pay for that. Anyone who hurts this woman will suffer. I may have been too weak before, but now I’m ready.
Silver sits back in his chair when she’s done. “You’ve been through a lot, Catherine. But that all stops now. Our motto as the Silver Snakes has always been to protect those that cannot protect themselves.”
She nods, looking slightly in awe. “That’s really what y’all do?” She looks over at me. “Y’all just help people?”
“Among other things, Cat. But mostly that’s what we do.
We are all here because we were a little lost. This is our found family.
We’re here together to share our love of the road, but also do something bigger than just us.
We want to help those that don’t have a voice.
” I remember sitting in this room for the first time, talking to Silver about what the club’s purpose was.
We don’t always follow the letter of the law, but what we do is for those who are the weakest. We protect the ones that have no other protection.
“That…that’s amazing,” she says in a soft voice.
He gives me a long look, a measuring one that makes me want to squirm a little too. “You know what this means, Tornado? You know how deep this family’s ties go and what the Brewers are capable of?”
I nod. “I’m well aware.”
He sits back, a grim but satisfied smile on his face. “Good. I’ll use my contacts to gather intel and then we’ll fight. We fight as one. We always do.”