anything
looks off. ”
“ Off? ” Jack asked.
“ Off, ” Brody said. “ Check to see if someone ’ s waiting to fucking kill us.
Okay? ”
Jack put his hands up and started
to move.
When Lane tried to walk by, Brody
grabbed him. “ Take care of
that thing for me? ”
“ The
brass knuckles? ”
“ Yeah. ”
“ Yeah, ” Lane said. “ That was kind of sick, man. ”
“ Good. ”
“ Jack
threw up. Like four times. The first time he threw up on the guy ’ s legs. ”
Brody laughed. “ Really? ”
“ Yeah.
Then the suit and tie threw up and passed out. ”
“ Did
the old man watch? ”
“ Yeah.
He smiled. Then he crawled out of the room because he was going to throw up. ”
“ So
you really shoved those brass knuckles up Tiny ’ s
ass? ”
“ You
told me to, ” Lane said.
Brody nodded. Maybe the prospects
weren ’ t completely useless
after all.
Once alone, Brody stood at the door
to Erik ’ s room. He put a
hand to it and lowered his head. The imagery and feeling of it was way too
familiar to him.
I ’ m sorry. I ’ m sorry I wasn ’ t there. I ’ m sorry I couldn ’ t have stopped it. I ’ m …
Brody sucked in a breath and went
to a chair.
He sat down and felt way too damn
comfortable for his own good.
He closed his eyes, telling himself
it was just for a minute.
That minute would take him into the
morning.
six.
Brody opened his eyes and saw a
beautiful woman crouching before him. He blinked fast, cleared his throat, and
looked down to see if his pants were open. It wouldn ’ t have been the first time he woke up to find
someone taking care of his cock, but that wasn ’ t
the case this time.
This time the face was familiar and
she wasn ’ t sucking him off.
It was the nurse from yesterday.
She held a cup of coffee and was
smiling.
“ Sorry
to wake you, ” she said. “ You were snoring and my boss was
getting pissed. ”
Brody looked around and realized he
was in the hospital. He saw the three prospects standing down the hall a little
ways.
“ Is
Erik alive? ” he asked.
“ Yeah, ” the nurse said. “ He ’ s
okay. Stable now. It ’ s going
to take time, you know? His body has to heal itself. And we have him on a lot
of pain meds to keep him relaxed. He doesn ’ t
feel a thing right now. He ’ s
not awake. ”
“ Okay, ” Brody said. He ran a hand down
his face. “ Fuck, I can ’ t believe I slept here last
night. ”
“ Brought
you some coffee, ” the nurse
said.
“ Thanks. ” Brody took it. “ What ’ s your name, sweetheart? ”
“ Heather. ”
“ Heather,
nice to meet you, again. I ’ m
Brody. That guy in there …”
“ I
know, ” Heather said. “ You ’ re part of a gang, right? ”
“ A
gang? ” Brody asked. “ No, not like that. We ’ re a club. We ’ re brothers. We take care of
each other. Protect each other. You look a little afraid right now. Because of
us? ”
“ I ’ ve heard things, ” Heather said.
“ Good, ” Brody said. “ They ’ re all true. We ’ re
outlaws. We ’ re assholes. We
cause trouble. If that bothers you, then keep moving on. I need to talk to my
prospects here. ”
Heather turned her head and Brody
noticed something about her face and neck. It was a sight he ’ d seen many times before.
“ Okay, ” Heather said. “ Enjoy the coffee the best you
can. It ’ s terrible, but it ’ s coffee. ”
She started to walk and Brody
jumped to his feet. He grabbed at her hand, taking it. Her hand quickly wrapped
around his. She was secretly seeking a comfort that was dangerous and tempting.
Holy fuck, man. Let her go right
now. Let her walk the fuck away. Let her go live in the hell she chose …
Heather looked at him. “ What? ”
“ When
are you coming back here? ”
“ I ’ ll make my rounds. ”
“ I ’ ll be waiting, ” Brody said.
He let Heather go. She took a couple
stuttering steps and Brody smiled. Damn, that kind of power was nice. But what
was even nicer was