As we drive to the bar I’m taking in the scenery when I hear the rumble of a motorcycle. My heart starts racing and I instinctively search out the source. Riding up from the passenger side of Sam’s truck, I watch as the guy comes into view. I hold my breath until I realize it’s not who I was thinking of. This biker is nowhere close to the size Gabriel is.
"Alba, are you okay? You look a little tense over there?" Sam asks.
Letting out a long breath I reply, "Yeah, I’m fine. Thought I saw someone I knew was all."
Determined to have a good time, I push all thoughts of Gabriel and home out of my head. I need to stop thinking about him.
Pulling into a parking spot, Sam turns the truck off.
"Ready to have some fun tonight ladies?"
"Definitely." Leah and I both answer. Her voice filled with nerves and mine filled with determination.
Chapter Six
Gabriel
I’m sitting at the clubhouse tossing back a few beers with Quinn and Reid after a long ass day at the shop, when I feel a hand slide up my arm. Turning my head, I see a chick with brown shoulder length hair, brown eyes, and fake ass tits hanging out of a scrap of material she calls a shirt. She’s the new club pussy Liz brought around last week, and I don’t have it in me to care what the fuck her damn name is. I haven’t paid the bitch any mind since she walked through the clubhouse door a week ago. Not from lack of trying on her part.
"Hey, Gabriel,” she purrs. "You want some company tonight?"
"Fuck off." I bark, pulling my arm free from her grasp. Feeling her hands on me causes my skin to crawl.
She huffs and storms off across the room in her too tall heels that make her wobble back over to where Liz is tentatively watching.
"You okay, brother?" Reid asks, taking a pull of his beer while sitting on the stool beside me.
"Fine," I grumble. Only...I’m not fine. My mind is still reeling from seeing Santino at the fight three weeks ago. It’s been seven years since I last saw him, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why the fuck he would be in here. I know Santino is heavy into the fighting scene, but to show up at a meaningless fight in the middle of a small town in Montana is a far cry from what goes down in Miami. Most people don’t realize how much money can be made in underground fighting. But for him to show up in nowhere, fucking Montana. Maybe it’s just one hell of a coincidence. But I’d bet my left nut it’s not.
On top of all that shit, I haven’t been able to get ahold of my sister Leyna for the past two weeks. I call her at least every other day. She answers nearly every time. There is a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is not right. I reached out to a cousin of ours that lives several cities over. He agreed to go to Leyna’s house and check on her for me. Hopefully, I hear back from him soon.
I hate that my sister is so far from me. I’ve been working on bringing her to the U.S., but these things take time. She insisted on staying in Cuba with our mother while she was still alive, but since her passing we have started all the necessary steps to move her here. I miss my sister terribly. Even though we have been apart for so long, we are still as close as ever. I tell her everything. We have no
secrets. Leyna knows about the club. She even knows about Alba. My sister is the only person I confide in entirely. She also told me I was an idiot for what I did and if she were here she’d kick my ass for the way I treated Alba. My sister has been encouraging me to go to her and to fix what I’ve done, but I informed her the damage has already been done.
"You plannin’ on fightin’ again?" Reid asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.
Shrugging my shoulders, "If I get the itch and they get some decent competition I will."
"There are better ways to relieve stress, than beating the shit out of someone," Quinn chimes in, nodding to the direction of Liz and her new minion. I choose to ignore the asshole. Quinn is doing what he does best. He’s trying to goad a reaction out of me. I see the knowing smirk on his face. Instead, I turn my attention back to Reid.
"I may need you to look into something for me. I haven’t heard from my sister in a couple weeks. If I don’t hear something by tomorrow, I want you to see what you can find out for me."
"Has she ever gone radio silent on you before?" He asks with a look of concern on his face. My brothers know about my sister, and how close we are.
"No. She’s never not answered my calls," I insist. "Something about this isn’t sittin’ right with me. I have a cousin checking up on her, he’s supposed to get back with me tomorrow. If he comes back with nothing, I want you to see what you can find."
"You got it, brother. Give me everything you have on her, and I’ll see what I can do."
"Got another favor, man. I want you to get me everything you can on a Miguel Santino. This guy is big into drugs. I’m not sure the level, but my guess is he’s big time, based out of Miami. He’s also heavy into the fight scene."
"Is this something for the club, or is it personal?" Reid inquires.
I shake my head, "This is personal."
I see the questioning look on his face, he wants to ask more, but respects my privacy enough not to.
"Alright, brother, I’ll start digging tonight and get with you tomorrow."