Page 9 of Girth (Marked Skulls MC 1)
“But?” I prodded him and Lewis looked at Fred again before he spoke.
“But we might have dabbled in weapons, just one shipment, there was big money in it and we couldn’t say no,” Lewis informed me and I clenched my jaws.
“It was supposed to be a one time thing, and it went smoothly. We made our money, distributed the shipment and went on our way,” Rodeo continued and I looked at Lewis again.
“So what’s their problem?” I asked and he breathed in deeply.
“Our contacts are sending another consignment. They were happy with how smoothly the distribution was made the first time. They want us to keep doing it,” Lewis said and I looked over at Fred who shrugged his shoulders.
“And the Dark Legion isn’t happy about that,” I stated and Lewis nodded his head.
“They’ve been passing threats along to us for the past weeks, since news of the new deal broke out. We haven’t responded. We just don’t have the manpower to take on a big MC like Dark Legion,” Lewis said and another shot of whisky was handed to me by Gus.
“No, you don’t,” I said and Lewis sighed.
“There’s good money in it man, it’s hard to just give it up,” he added and I knocked the third shot back. The whisky finally had its effect on me, I felt a sudden lightheadedness, but I was able to keep it under control.
“So they take a shot at Lila to send a message?” I asked and Lewis stroked his long grey beard.
“Those motherfuckers think they can scare us into submission. They think they can get to my daughter and stop us from doing the trade. If anything happens to Lila, if they touch a hair on her head. I’ll…” Lewis was growling, crushing the can of beer in his hand.
“Nothing will happen to her. I’m going to make sure of that. You need to figure out if you want to risk the lives of your men and the survival of your MC against the Dark Legion,” I growled back and Lewis and I were glaring at each other.
“Fuck!” he growled again and Fred thumped his shoulders.
“We need to think about this calmly. You need to talk to Elwood and see if he can send over reinforcements,” Fred said and Lewis shook his head.
“I know he’s doing me a big favor by sparing Girth. I know he has his own shit to deal with. I can’t ask him for more. Also, what kind of a captain does that make me if I can’t decide by myself what is good for my men?” Lewis was grumbling as he thought and I raised my hand to Gus for another shot. Now that I’d started, I had to keep going. Besides, when had whisky ever stopped me from getting the job done?
“No, we need to figure this shit out by ourselves,” Lewis continued, while shaking his head in thought.
Just then, the doors of the bar burst open and a young guy in a cop’s uniform barged in. I jumped up from my stool and in an instant I had my gun pointed directly at him.
“Whoa!” the guy yelled, raising his hands up in the air in defense.
“Steady on there, tiger. It’s only Hugh,” I heard Lewis’ voice behind me. I was confused. What was a cop doing in a MC bar? I was taking steps towards him, with my gun still pointed in his direction.
“Who’s this jerk?” the cop said, looking around the bar.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I barked at him, just as I felt a hand thump my back.
“You can put your gun down, Girth, we know this guy. He’s one of us,” it was Fred. I blinked rapidly as I glared at the cop. He was grinning at me now and I had to do everything I could to not punch him in the face to wipe that grin off.
“Who the fuck is he?” I growled, as I lowered my gun.
“It’s Hugh. He’s our guy on the inside, relax, Girth,” Fred said, as I stuffed my gun in my belt. Hugh was still grinning.
“Girth, good name, suits you man,” he commented and came over to me to thump my shoulder. I yanked myself away from him and nearly spat on his fucking self sufficient face.
“He’s the new guy, here as protection for Lila,” Lewis informed Hugh, who walked over to the counter where Gus had a bottle of beer opened and ready for him. I followed his every movement with my eyes suspiciously, there was something about this guy I didn’t like.
“Is that right? Well, that’s exactly why I’m here,” Hugh said, turning to Lewis and then he dropped his voice. “How is she?” he asked.
Lewis shrugged his shoulders.
“She’s mad at me, mad at everyone. You know what she’s like. Girth finally managed to get her out of the house and come over here. She was refusing to step out, refusing to talk to us,” Lewis explained and Hugh sipped his beer slowly and nodded his head.
“Where is she? I should go check on her,” Hugh said and Fred tipped his head in the direction of the back office where Lila was making her phone calls.
I watched with clenched jaws as Hugh walked towards it and then knocked on the door. What the fuck was going on? Was he her boyfriend? Did Lila have a boyfriend? She was dating a cop?
I didn’t know if it was the whisky that was making me see red, or if it was just pure smoldering uncontrollable jealousy.
Lewis was smiling as he drank his beer.
“He’s a good guy that one,” he said and Fred nodded in agreement.
“He likes her too, maybe he’s too afraid to ask your permission to ask her out,” Fred said with a laugh and Lewis laughed as well.
“He fucking well should be,” Lewis replied and I clenched my fists in rage.
Chapter 9
Lila
I was in the middle of talking to one of the kids at the foster care center when I heard the knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called out and spoke hurriedly into the phone and ended the call, just as Hugh Ashland stepped into the room.
I’d always thought he was a good looking guy, he had that classic Hollywood charm about him. He was well built, with golden hair a lot like mine that was always cut neatly. His eyes were green under sharp eyebrows, he had a clean shaven firm jaw. He was the poster-child for hot cops, I knew that already, and I had spent the last few years with fluctuating feelings about him.
“How are you doing, Lila?” Hugh said, as he gently closed the office door behind him. He was even hotter in uniform, but I was surprised that I wasn’t really reacting much to him.
“I’m good…I’m fine…just trying to keep my head above water, you know?” I said, as he took a seat across from my dad’s desk. Hugh was cradling a bottle of beer in his hands while he stared at me, there was a worried expression on his face and I smiled.
“Lewis and the guys told me that you were too scared to come out of the house,” Hugh said and I rolled my eyes.
/> “I wasn’t just scared, I was mad at that…I still am. I didn’t want to speak to them, I didn’t want to see any of them,” I replied and Hugh nodded his head like he knew where I was coming from.
“I’m going to try and catch this guy, or guys. We know it’s the Dark Legion. Shooting at you is completely uncalled for,” Hugh continued and I licked my lips and looked away from him.
I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Girth. I was sure that Girth had seen Hugh walk into the bar and then walk into this office. What did he think was going on right now? Did he think that Hugh was my man?
“Yes, good,” I replied, without paying much attention and Hugh leaned over the table to catch my gaze.
“What’s the matter, Lila? You seem distracted. Are you still scared?” he spoke gently. Hugh had always been nothing less than a gentleman to me. He hadn’t yet asked me out, in the last three years of us knowing each other, but I always had a feeling that he assumed that a date was around the corner. Besides, dad made it extremely evident that he wanted us to be together. For my dad, Hugh was the ideal guy for me. He had a good job, he worked well with the MC, he was brave—these were all qualities that dad assumed would be good for me.
But despite his good looks and his charm, I had always found Hugh to be a little boring. I never felt thrilled to be around him, not in the way that I had felt this morning when I met Girth.
“No, I’m not scared. I have Girth now, he’s my bodyguard. I feel safe around him,” I said, avoiding Hugh’s eyes. This would have been the absolute worst time for Hugh to ask me out if that was what he was planning.
Hugh was silent for a few moments before he spoke again.
“Yeah? Good. He seems like a guy who knows what he’s doing,” Hugh said and there was a note of bitterness in his voice. When I looked at Hugh I saw that he had his eyes narrowed. He was thinking about Girth, and I knew instantly that the two of them hadn’t got off to a good start.
“Yeah, he does. I like having him around,” I continued in an insistent voice, hoping that Hugh would get the message. I couldn’t be sure if he did or not, because he pasted a wide smile on his face.
