Page 141 of Girth (Marked Skulls MC 1)
I was their leader, so we didn’t exactly spend too much time with my men lounging about. Neither did they share too many personal things with me. But I remembered one conversation clearly and now as I rode my bike to nowhere, it kept repeating in my mind over and over again.
Jenson and I were behind a rock, sweat dripping into our eyes. We were waiting for a target in the sun. A passing truck that we’d got intel on was supposed to be carrying weapons. Our orders were to shoot the driver, and we could have been waiting there, lying on our stomachs in the sand for hours. Only the buzzing of mosquitoes as company, and each other.
“You know what I miss most about home?” Jenson had said, and I kept my eyes on the target, so as not to be distracted.
“Enlighten me,” I’d replied and I sensed him moving slightly.
“I miss the fact that when I wake up in the morning, there’s the smell of fresh pancake batter in the house. Now, all I wake up to is the sound of fires being shot, and it’s the middle of the night. Smell of gunpowder in the air,” he had said and I smiled, despite myself.
“I’m not surprised that you’re treated like a Princess at home. Maybe that should be your nickname,” I’d said and he laughed.
“The very reason why no woman is good enough. My sister’s set some very high standards,” he said. I’d gripped the gun tighter, growing conscious of the sweat pooling on my back as we lay there.
“You have a sister?” I asked.
“Yeah, a baby sister…B. She used to be the cutest little thing, and now I can’t keep the guys off her!” Jenson had laughed.
“I’m glad I don’t have a sister. It would drive me nuts,” I said and we broke protocol to look at each other and smile.
“Yeah well, I’m glad I have her. But she’s set unrealistic standards, you know, every chick I’m remotely interested in, I look for signs of whether she’s as amazing as B is,” he said and I didn’t respond. I wasn’t really interested in Jenson’s family life or habits, I liked to keep our military life separate. Besides, I didn’t want him asking about Bryce. That was a subject still very raw in my mind and I didn’t want to talk about the death of my brother yet.
I wished I’d asked him more about “B”. Any clue that would have alerted me to who Brooklyn really was before we slept together.
How could I ever face her again? Knowing what I knew now. She still didn’t know. She still had no idea that I knew her brother. The brother who she had referred to as being in the army. This was what I’d seen in her eyes. I knew she was grieving. The moment I saw her, I knew she was struggling with the loss of something and that was the connection I’d felt towards her. What I didn’t know was that our lives were intricately connected.
And now, I was failing at keeping Jenson’s baby sister safe. The man who I owed everything to. The man who I wasn’t able to protect, who I was in charge of.
The other thing that had shocked me was the new knowledge that Jenson was involved with the Dragon Knights. None of this was making sense. Everything was a blur and I needed to clear my head before I could make any other decisions.
That image of Jenson lying beside me in the sun kept replaying in my head. The way he had spoken about his sister had told me that he cared deeply for her. I should have promised him that whatever happened to him in Afghanistan, I would have looked after his baby sister. I should have taken a step into his personal life and made that promise.
But now it didn’t matter. She was too deep into it for me to save her, and I didn’t have the courage or the strength to face her again.
“Fuck!” I growled, as I rode my bike faster. I was mad at myself, I was mad at Jenson, and I was mad at Brooklyn. This was all my fault. I shouldn’t have pursued her. Then I wouldn’t have found out who she was.
Now there was going to be another burden to carry. Now I knew that I was responsible for Brooklyn’s brother’s death and there was no way I could forgive myself.
Chapter 15
Brooklyn
“Who were you talking to?” Viper asked as I walked up towards him. I could tell that the multiple cans of beer he’d been drinking had taken their toll on him. He was just short of swaying on his feet, and I knew him well enough to know that drunk Viper was a violent man. Just like the rest of them. Just like daddy had been. Luke had tried to keep me away from that side of him and his friends, but even as a child; I had always paid enough attention to know this.
“Nobody,” I said, brushing past him to go into the bar again. Viper grabbed my elbow and jerked me towards him and suddenly, I’d had enough of him pushing me around. I yanked my arm away from him and stuck my chin up in the air.
“I said I wasn’t talking to anyone!” I snapped, meeting his gaze with my own firm one. He was glaring at me, trying to strong-arm me into cowering, but I wasn’t about to back down now. Not after the night I’d just had.
“I heard your voice,” he growled and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I was on the phone,” I said and he stepped threateningly towards me.
“Who were you on the phone with?” he asked and I pursed my lips together and narrowed my eyes at him, in a show of defiance.
“It’s none of your concern,” I said and he grabbed me by my shoulders. I stumbled backwards but he had pulled me closer to him. Despite everything that had just happened; the first thought that came to my mind was Gunner. I wished he was there. I wanted his arm around me, not Viper’s.
“Everything in your life is my concern, Brooklyn, sugar,” Viper said, bringing his face close to me. His breathing was heavy and I could almost taste the beer on his breath. My muscles had stiffened and I knew I had gone pale. All my courage from a few seconds ago had vanished. I was afraid of him again. He was successful in frightening me.
“Please, just let me go,” I screeched and squirmed in Viper’s arms. Nobody could see us from inside. They couldn’t hear my shrieks. If they had, I was sure that someone would have come outside and broken us up. Not that Viper would be in trouble for jumping on me, but at least they would have put a stop to it.
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted you?” he breathed into my ear, while I kept my face turned from him. I was tense in his arms, quivering as he held me tightly to himself. I could feel the erection in his pants as he pressed himself to me.
“I don’t want this, Viper. Please, just let go!” I yelled and tried to claw at him, but no amount of scratching affected him. He had me firmly in his grip and he wasn’t about to let me go.
“You have the most amazing body, B,” he said, sniffing my skin and I felt my stomach drop.
“Don’t call me that!” I yelled, with sudden renewed vigor. “Only Luke called me that. Only he’s allowed to call me that!” I was yelling and pushing him away. I’d found my strength again and I could see that Viper, in his drunkenness, was beginning to lose his grip of me. I kept pushing.
“Well, he’s gone now, honey…and someone has to take care of you,” he said, in his cold slithering voice and I managed to slip out of his arms.
“Get the Fuck away from me!” I said and my own voice was ringing in my ears as I slapped him. My palm fell tightly on his face, enough to twist his head around and Viper seemed to drunkenly stumble backwards. He was more shocked than hurt by what I’d done and his hand went up to his cheek where the slap had landed. He looked up at me with
widened eyes and I straightened my top and smoothened the front of my jeans.
“Stay the Fuck away from me,” I hissed at him in a lower deeper voice, and turning from him, I walked into the bar.
Nobody seemed to have noticed that I was gone, nor Viper for that matter. They all seemed to be exactly where I had left them before and I pasted a smile on my face.
“Hey, Pike!” I walked up to him, while he had his face buried in the hair of one of the groupies, whose name I didn’t remember. He pulled himself away from her, to smile at me.
“I want to get really drunk tonight,” I said to him and he threw his hands up in the air and cheered.
“Brooklyn’s getting hammered tonight!” he yelled joyously and everyone at the bar cheered along with him.
The drinks started pouring and everyone was happy, cheering me on as I took the drinks from them. I was in the mood for whisky tonight. Something hard and rough down my throat to deal with the numbness in my head. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Viper staggering into the bar and I turned to him.
His eyes were bloodshot and there was a pinkish fading Viper on his cheek still…where I had slapped him. I knew he was angry and I knew there would be consequences for what I’d done, but I also knew that he wouldn’t do anything now in front of everyone.
I stuck my nose up in the air and whipped my face away from him. Whatever he wanted to do to teach me a lesson, would have to wait.
Tonight, I just wanted to forget about everything Gunner had said to me. I just wanted to forget…
***
But I couldn’t forget, and I was hoping that was because I wasn’t drunk enough. I’d switched between whiskies and gin over the course of the night and by now, I was sitting on a chair by myself, watching the others talking loudly, making out and fingering some of the women, getting into petty fights with each other.
