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His grin widens. "I bet you are. Christ, another brother down."
"Shut it," I hiss. "Esme will run if she thinks I want anything more than she can offer." I'm not stupid. The woman has a lot of fucking baggage thanks to that asshole of an ex of hers. He's a fucking bastard for what he put her through. I don't know it all. I doubt anyone will ever know. But I'm not him, and I'm sure as shit not going to let her slip through my fingers. I knew the moment I saw her five years ago that she was different. I've been given another shot and I'm taking it with both fucking hands.
Preach saunters into the room, his jaw clenched and his eyes hard as he glares at Cruz, who's sitting in the back with his feet up on one of the round tables, grinning like a fucking cat who got the cream. "I'm gonna kill him," Preach growls as he takes a seat beside me. "Thankfully, I didn’t have the cream on all that long so I've not lost all of the hair on my body."
I chuckle. Christ, Cruz is an ass. He's forever playing pranks on people, and he needs to back the fuck off. He does anything to me and we'll be having words.
"What I want to know," Storm says as he leans forward onto the table. "Who's helpin' him?"
Now that's the million-dollar question. Cruz is my brother. I'd lay my life on the line for him. But he's not got the smarts for this. There's someone in this clubhouse who’s teaching the fucker what to do, and for some reason, they’ve decided to target Preach.
"Who did you piss off?" I ask. "They're getting revenge, giving you bald spots. I'm shocked they didn't put it in the shampoo, get rid of your mane," I say with a grin.
He flips me off. "Fuck you," he says without heat. "But I haven't pissed anyone off. I've not been around."
Now that's the truth. "You've done somethin'," I tell him. "But until we find out who it is, we won’t know what you did to have them wanting revenge."
"The pranks need to stop," Storm huffs. "It was fun when Cruz was the only one getting this shit done to him, but it's movin' through the clubhouse like the fuckin' plague. I ain't dealin' with it. They come for me, I don't give a fuck if it's a man or woman, I'll be dealin' with them."
I chuckle as I shake my head. There's no way in hell he's going after a woman, who I suspect is doing this. The ladies are cunning, and there's no doubt in my mind that Preach has pissed one of them off and this is their way of revenge.
"So, you and Esme," Preach says with a grin, changing the subject. "It's about fuckin' time, brother. You know the women love her, and the brothers do too. She's Vipers, which means that when it comes time to claim her, you'll have everyone's backin'.”
I raise a brow. "You're crazy, you know that?" I say as I rise to my feet. "Esme and I are havin' fun. You all need to back off."
Christ, having my brothers talk like this around Esme will for sure send her running. That's not something I want to happen. So I need them to back the fuck off. "I'm headin' out," I say to them both.
Storm chuckles. "We won't wait up."
I flip him off. "Ass," I say with a shake of my head.
Preach rises to his feet and follows me outside. "You know I'm happy for you, brother. You deserve some happiness in your life."
"Preach, you and I both know that what happens between Esme and I is only goin' to be fun."
He gives me a knowing smirk. "You're a damned liar, Reap. You know that, right? Your parents are fuckheads. They've always been that way. You are not them."
"You know that, do you? As far as I can see, I'm just like my old man."
His face twists into anger. "The fuck you are," he snarls. "Your dad was a drunken asshole who loved to belittle not only your ma but you too. You aren't your father. That asshole wouldn't be part of this club. He's a selfish prick who only cares about himself."
Ah, little does Preach know just how alike me and my dad really are. I did a lot of shit while I was in prison. It was the only way to survive. But I still fucked up doing so. I became someone I swore I'd never become.
"Trust me, Reap, your old man would have let me fuckin' fry rather than takin' the blame for me. I owe you more than you could ever know. I'll repay my debt, brother. Before we leave this earth, I'll repay my debt."
I roll my eyes. "You're my brother, Preach, have been for fuckin' years. I'd take a bullet for you. Goin' to prison for a few years was nothin'," I lie. There's no fucking way that I'd ever tell him the truth that went down inside. There's nothing in this world that would ever make me lay that hurt on him. He's feeling the guilt of me taking his place enough. Knowing the shit I had to do to survive would kill him. I would never do that to him.
"Go," he says, swallowing hard. "Tell Esme that I said hi. The sooner she comes around again the fuckin' better. You know the women love her. Besides, the women gettin' drunk is fuckin' funny as hell, and it's been a fuckin' long time since they let their hair down."
That's because there's been a fucking lot of shit going on lately. But Preach is right. It's time to ensure that Esme is around the clubhouse more. She's hurting, and the more she's around the girls, the more she'll start to come out of her shell.
"Talk to you later," I say as I stride toward my motorcycle. I climb on and let the engine purr. My thoughts turn to the fucker who was parked out front of Esme's home earlier today. If he's there when I return, we'll be having words.
* * *
It takes me almost an hour to make it to Esme's house with the fucking New York traffic. Christ. Rush hour is always the fucking worst. I pull into her street, and my gaze is immediately drawn to the Mercedes that's once again parked outside of her house across the street. I decide to park a bit down the street and make my way toward the car. The fucker doesn't even notice me making my way toward him.
I pull open the passenger's side door and slide into the seat. "Name," I rumble.
