Shane (Mallick Brothers 1)

“Can we get off the street?” Leo said, obviously more anxious about holding illegal guns.

I opened the door and they walked in in unison, sharing a look when they bumped shoulders. Grig eventually waved a hand and Leo walked in first.

I almost wanted to laugh at the exchange.

“Alright, here,” Leo said, obviously not caring about Grig knowing about his business as he pulled a gun from his waistband. “It’s loaded,” he said as I took the big, mean-looking gun from his hand, checking the clip like Rick, the former MC president, had taught me at a very young age. “And here’s an extra. Dunno what you’re going into, but you should always have too many bullets.”

“Thanks, Leo. I appreciate it.”

He shook his head, his face hard. “Don’t thank me. Use it. Get your shit handled. And don’t ever contact me again.”

With that, he gave Grig a chin jerk and moved off toward the door, closing it a bit harder than was necessary.

“He’s charming,” Grig said when we were alone, trying to look amused, and mostly failing. “Tell me the new one isn’t a fuck like that one and the other one,” he said, tossing me the boots he had in his hand.

I felt myself smile a little wistfully. “He’s one of the good ones.”

Grig’s head turned to the side. “You? With a good guy?” he asked, genuinely amused then. “I refuse to believe that.”

“Okay. So he’s a loan shark enforcer,” I confided, smiling and he smiled too.

“That’s more like you, you crazy bitch.”

“Did you bring me a bike?” I asked, wanting to get things moving. There was a time for memory lane, this was not it.

Grig reached into his pocket and produced a key. “It’s strapped down in my truck. I have the ramps but you’ll have to help me get it down. Got a helmet too and it’s all fueled up.”

“Great. I really appreciate this, Grig. You didn’t have to…”

“Yeah I did. You and me might have been oil and water, but no matter what history you have with someone, when they have a situation like you got going on, you help out.”

“Thanks,” I said, meaning it, glad to see that there were people in my past who did give a shit about me. That was a nice thing to know. “So let’s get it done. I have some ground to cover.”

So that put me on a bike riding down the back street toward the compound with a gun nestled in the back waistband of my jeans in a pair of men’s boots two sizes too big, ready to finally do what needed to be done

Put an end to this shit, once and for all.SEVENTEENShaneI wouldn’t say I was surprised when Ryan made the call. That wouldn’t be the right word. Pleased, was more like it. Because when Lea realized the shit hit the fan and there was some level of danger, she didn’t hide, she didn’t hole up and worry, she didn’t jump in a car and head off on her own to try to stop it.

She went to my family.

That was important to me.

I think it went without saying that my family meant the world to me. So when I finally stopped horn-dogging around and found a girl I wanted to spend more than a night or weekend with, it followed that she would have to get along with them.

It was clear immediately that she and Fee got on, both being somewhat opinionated, headstrong, stubborn women with hearts of gold and iffy pasts. And I could also tell she had a lot of respect for my parents after she made that comment about them raising good men.

The night at Chaz’s also made it clear that she got on with each of my brothers. Mark and her were a good match, both quick and happy to one-up each other’s insults. Her and Eli had holed up in a corner for a long time, talking, tones hushed, eyes intense. The only one she didn’t really seem to make a connection with was Ryan. It was something that didn’t overly concern me because, well, Ryan didn’t make connections with anyone. If me and Mark made our determination to be uncommitted and unconnected with anyone seem like sport, he made it seem like a God damn way of life. While he hung out with all of us when we got together and participated in conversation, it was clear he was a loner, he was lost in his own head. And outside of family, he almost never fostered any kind of friendships and certainly not any relationships. That wasn’t the kind of man he was. So Lea not ‘getting’ him didn’t mean anything.

She still respected him and in no way shied away from him.

My family mattered to her. And not only because they were part of the me-package. I think she found things in them that she missed with her own family, even if she didn’t really see it. She looked up to Charlie because he was everything a father should be. She felt safe around my brothers because they were everything her brother wasn’t. And she bonded with Fee and my mom because they were the mother and sister she didn’t get to have.