Addictive (Diamondback MC Second Generation 3)

“You got it.” I bring the phone to my ear, waiting for him to answer.

“What’s up, sister?” he answers after the third ring.

“Hey, can you meet Mom, Sailor, and me at the clubhouse? Sailor’s memory is returning from that one time. She needs you.” I don’t want to bring the whole word into play. Nothing says freaking out a pregnant woman then ‘Remember that time your woman was kidnapped, dropped off in a hospital parking lot, then you made things worse by running your mouth?’ Yep, that was Jackson. How Sailor and he recovered from that was a time when my brother sure as hell ate some humble pie to get back in her good graces. Truth be told, I was rooting for them from the sidelines but was also glad Sailor made him work to make things right.

“On my way. You need me to pick you up from Mom’s?” he asks.

“Nope, by the time you leave the shop and come here, we’d be there at the same time,” I reply.

“Thanks, I’ll see you there. Mom call Dad already?” I can hear the background noises in the mechanic shop, the whir of the ratchets, the talking of other brothers, and the slamming of what I’m sure is Jackson toolbox.

“Yep, looks like Mom is ready to rock and roll. See you later. Love you, Jackson.” I’m reassuring him because I know today is going to be hard for him and Sailor.

“You too. Take care of my woman, okay?”

“Always.” We hang up, and I turn around. Mom has her arm wrapped around Sailor’s lower back, walking her towards the door. I grab my keys knowing that today is going to be a long one.

“Jackson coming?” Mom asks. I nod, walking with them. Sailor seems to come out of her head, taking a deep breath and letting it out, and hopefully, after she talks about everything, the hospital won’t be our next stop.

“Yep, he’ll probably be there before we are.” The club’s auto shop is still on our property, just a bit further out than where all the houses are located.

“That’s good.” Mom’s eyes volley between Sailor and me. I know what she’s thinking—added stress of any kind isn’t good, not when I’m in remission. My doctor, blessing that she is, also knows outside sources can play a vital role when you’re trying to heal not only your body but your mind as well.

“Let’s get going, alright?” It’s going to be a long day, even longer for Sailor, and she’s the only person we should be worrying about right now.

“Okay, let’s get this sorted. Maybe then we can go longer than a few months with something happening in all of our lives.” Mom isn’t wrong. Lately, it’s been one thing after another. I think we’re about due for a break after we get this settled.

CHAPTER 14

HENLEY

“Holy shit.” I don’t say a word. There’s nothing I can say except that the man I was slowly falling for is the reason that Sailor landed in the hospital, and the reasoning for that, well, I have no idea. I’m not sure I care at this point.

“Do you know the guy with those scars on his face whom Sailor is describing?” my uncle Shovel asks. I sit back, absorbing everything Sailor said. The man who kidnapped her, it’s no one I’ve ever heard of or seen before.

“I have no idea; I’ve been a recluse besides going to the hospital. The only places I go besides here now are my apartment, the grocery store, and doctor’s office. When that happened to Sailor, it wasn’t even that many places.” She must have been scared out of her mind, and for what reason? There really isn’t one, not a single purpose.

“It seems like that guy screwed up, because when the other guy told him he didn’t get the right girl and that he was only supposed to keep her by the car until he got there, well, that man was even scarier.” The frighteningly creepy part is that she described the other man, not Scarface, as someone I know all too well. Yeah, that freaking sucks.

“Thanks, Sailor. We shouldn’t need anythin’ more to go off of. We’ll pull the security feed and go from there.” I watch as the rest of the brothers leave, everyone except my dad, brother, and uncle Shovel. As for myself, I stay stone cold silent, wanting to watch the video with them even though they’ll probably try to kick me out. I’m not going to go, not when this guy wanted me to begin with.

“Gonna take the rest of the day off, get Sailor settled and see how things go,” Jackson, my baby brother, who has stepped into the shoes of being this big, bad alpha, so much like our father and the men surrounding us, says.