Page 125 of Talon (Road Rebels MC 2)
My hands were trembling as I unlocked the door and gently, I pried it open. The person on the other side pushed against the door wildly, flinging it open and I gasped in fright. But it wasn’t Viper, in fact it wasn’t anyone from the Dragon Knights. Gunner was standing in front of me, with his shoulders heaving and his body towering over me as I craned my neck to look up at his face.
“Brooklyn!” he said my name like he wasn’t expecting to see me. I parted my lips, but no words came out because I couldn’t believe how relieved I was to see him. I’d assumed I would never see him again. After our argument the previous night, I didn’t think he would have no reason to seek me out.
But, Gunner just kept showing up.
He was studying me closely, looking me up from my face, down to my disheveled clothes and then back to the mess of my hair. His blue eyes were stormy, his chiseled jaws were clenched.
“I was hoping you would be here,” he said, in a less panic-stricken voice and I gulped. Then he looked past me, into my apartment and I saw the creasing of his brows. He stared at my lipstick that was smeared around my mouth and looked back at the apartment again. That’s when it struck me. I knew what he was thinking.
“Is there someone in there with you?” he asked and then brushed past me as he stormed into the apartment. I closed the door and followed him in, as he looked around the living room. When he turned to me again, I softened my gaze at him. I didn’t blame him for assuming that I’d brought someone home with me. Not after how I’d behaved with him, or how stubborn I was being and the state he found me in this morning.
“There’s nobody here, Gunner. I’m by myself,” I said to him and dropped my gaze to my feet in embarrassment. I was glad to see him, and I wanted to apologize. After the way Viper had behaved with me, the way the other guys had looked at me when he was talking to them about me…my memory of their conversation in the diner…I knew there was some truth to what Gunner had told me. Besides, there were butterflies in my stomach from my relief of seeing Gunner again. I felt safe in his presence.
“Brooklyn…” he said my name gently and I stepped towards him in a rush.
“Gunner, I want to apologize for last night,” I interrupted him and stopped in my tracks as I saw his watching me closely. There was silence between us for a few moments, before he spoke again.
“And I’m sorry for the way I left last night. I should have stayed there and made sure you were back home safe,” he said and I pursed my lips together, to suppress a cry that I knew was coming.
He saw the look on my face and came closer to me, although he was still being careful not to touch me. I didn’t blame him. I had tried my best to make it clear to him that what we had was in no way a growing relationship.
“It’s okay. I came home safely,” I said and met his eyes again. Gunner looked like he hadn’t slept well. There was a shadow of a beard on his cheeks and his eyes looked tired. Whatever he had been up to the previous night…he was still here the first thing in the morning and that was all that mattered. I wanted to be in his arms again.
“But you’re not safe yet, Brooklyn,” he said and I gulped, before nodding my head in agreement.
“I know, I believe you, Gunner,” I said and he ran a hand through his hair and took in a deep breath.
“There is something else we need to talk about,” he said.
“We don’t have to talk about it right now,” I told him. I wanted him to know how happy I was just to have him there. I didn’t care about the other things.
“No, we should talk about it now, Brooklyn,” Gunner insisted and from the look in his eyes; I could tell that he was going to make sure he got his way.
I sighed and shook my head.
“Okay, so you’re a member of the Bad Disciples and I’m associated with the Dragon Knights. It’s complicated, I know…but I’m sure we can work around it somehow,” I said and clasped my hands together in desperation. It was more than just a small complication, and I knew that better than anybody. But having Gunner in my life was more important.
He was staring at me, like I was speaking nonsense and then a glaze came over his eyes. He looked away from me.
“That is a problem, I recognize that…but there is a bigger issue that we need to address first,” he said and I knotted my brows in confusion.
“You mean the prostitution ring? I believe you, Gunner…I’ve just been in denial that they could be capable of something like that. But I know there is truth to what you’re saying,” I said and he finally looked at me again.
“Brooklyn…your brother. You said that he’s in the army,” Gunner said and my heart felt like it had been grabbed by icy cold hands. Why was he referring to Luke now? I could feel myself panicking.
“Yes…” I said but he interrupted me.
“He’s not in the army anymore, is he? He’s…” he said and my hands flew to my mouth. I had to stop myself just in time from crying.
“Don’t say it, please Gunner, don’t say it!” I cried and he lunged towards me and took me into his arms.
“I’m sorry, Brooklyn…if I could, I’d do whatever it took to make this easier for you,” he said, breathing into my ear as he held me tightly to his chest.
“Why are you talking about my brother? Did you know him?” I asked, and pulled away from him. I was peering into his eyes now, looking for clues on his face and I could see that Gunner was avoiding looking at me.
“Gunner…please, just tell me what’s going on. Don’t bring up Luke and not tell me why,” I cried, growing rigid in his arms while he tried to formulate the words.
“Yeah, I knew him…I knew him as Jenson,” he said and I could see that he was struggling. I tried catching his gaze, to get him to look at me.
“How? Why did you know him as just Jenson?” I said and I felt the grip of his fingers tighten on my arms. He looked up at me finally, from under heavily hooded lids, his blue eyes had turned the shade of an angry cloud, just before it’s about to break into heavy rain.
“Because we were together in Afghanistan. I was the Captain of his team,” he said and I felt his fingers release me and I stepped away from him. My hands had flown to my mouth again and I could feel hot tears pricking the backs of my eyelids.
“You were in…” I couldn’t get the words out. Gunner’s face looked dark, I could see he was struggling with his own emotions.
“I’m sorry, Brooklyn…I was there that day. It happened in front of me. He stepped on a land mine and I knew I should have stopped him. I was responsible for my men. I knew it was dangerous. But he kept walking. I thought I had it under control…” Gunner was speaking too quickly for me to get all his words. He was mumbling and growling under his breath, running his hands over his hair repeatedly.
I rushed to him and placed my hands on his muscular strong arms, trying to calm him down but he wouldn’t look at me again.
“Gunner…please, Gunner, please just stop,” I said and watched as he suffered. I wasn’t an expert but I could tell that he was suffering from some degree of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and I wanted to help him. Talking about Luke hadn’t affec
ted me as badly as I would have expected it to. I just wanted to make Gunner feel better.
“Please, just listen to me, Gunner…” I cried in a louder voice and he stopped fidgeting and finally looked me in the eye again. His eyes were glassy, he was miles away from here.
“It wasn’t your fault. When Luke signed up for the military, he knew exactly what he was getting into. He told me if he died for his country, it would be the proudest death I could wish for him,” I said, my lips were quivering but I kept going on. “I miss him, Gunner…I miss him every day and I wish it never happened. But I know my brother, I know he would never blame you. He wouldn’t even have blamed the people who put the land mine there. He was doing what he wanted to do and he died doing it,” I said and held his gaze, as rigidly as I could. Gunner’s eyes watered, for a split second, and then it disappeared. His face was reddish but the color was returning.
“I didn’t know you were his sister, Brooklyn…and I had no idea he was a part of the Dragon Knights. Neither of us had a clue we had both grown up in Long beach,” he said and I forced a weak smile on my face.
“I know. I can’t imagine that you did…and he mentioned his captain on a phone call to me once. Alton, he said that he was glad he had you as a leader,” I told him, confessing the truth and I saw Gunner’s eyes light up.
“And he spoke about his sister, B, and how no one would be good enough for him because of how much he adored you,” he said and a laugh mixed with a cry rose up in my throat.
“That didn’t stop him from banging everything in a skirt,” I said and Gunner and I both laughed. I wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled at him.
“Bastard,” he said teasingly under his breath and then we fell into silence again.
“Brooklyn…I will never let anything happen to you. Jenson was like a brother to me, even though we knew each other for a very short time,” he said and I nodded my head.
