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Tapping my fingers on the chipped table, I nod. “I worry I won’t be sharp.”
“You let those assholes get away just to protect me,” Goose mutters.
During the attack on the club, a few men in their truck chased Goose on her motorcycle. She got banged up but still figured I should have left her and given chase to the bad guys.
“Your safety mattered more than their deaths.”
“That’s sick shit,” she spits out and looks around to make sure no one is listening to us in the quiet diner off a main interstate. “Those guys nearly killed Yagger.”
“I didn’t know that. I was only aware they’d chased you all over the place, and you were bleeding. I can’t help how much I love you. My heart is my greatest weakness. You know how I didn’t have any family to love growing up. You had Armor while I was all alone with my dumbass family. So, yeah, fuck you, Goose,” I mutter, and she instantly glares at me. “I’m going to stop and check on my friend. If you died because I went gung-ho on those assholes, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”
Goose loses her scowl. A smile warms her tanned face, making her seem soft and pretty versus hard and scary as fuck.
“Walla Walla, you’re just getting goofy because of all the stuff happening back in the Valley. Everyone’s hooking up and having babies. A lot of those guys aren’t even marrying types. Like, who’d have thought Hobo was capable of falling for a lady, let alone that he’d get one to love him like Xenia does? That stuff is making you weird. Because you’re a good guy and open to love, yet you never found it. So, seeing Nomad or Hobo or even my brother get hitched is messing with your head.”
“But I’ve wanted Austen since before all those things happened.”
“Have you ever talked to her before?”
“No.”
“So, it’s just her looks. She’ll never be able to be what you want. People never do. Do you remember when I liked one of Kourtney’s security guys?”
I think about the club’s lawyer and Hobo’s sister, Kourtney Clark. The ballsy blonde always has a meathead bodyguard following her around.
“I’d see him with Kourtney and think he was smoking hot,” Goose continues. “I built up this whole fucking backstory for him. I gave him cool qualities. He was going to be awesome. But he was just a dipshit. Nothing special about him beyond his looks. I bet that’ll happen with this Austen chick.”
“Probably,” I say and stretch my arms along the back of the booth. “Yeah, probably, but I still think I’m compromised here, and I wanted to warn you.”
“But you didn’t warn Ruin before we left.”
“He wouldn’t have cared. He just wanted someone to hunt down the assholes to protect his family.”
“Can you blame him?”
“No, that’s why I didn’t say anything. It would have stressed him out to know I’m compromised.”
“You’re overthinking this shit,” she insists while resting cash on the table for a tip. Goose slides out of the booth. “You’re going to see this chick and realize she got old. Like, she was all cute and irresistible as a teenager. No way will a thirty-year-old redhead make your knees quake.”
“I am a shallow guy. You’re probably right.”
“I’m always right.”
I don’t argue with Goose about that comment despite knowing she’s often wrong. As we reach our hogs parked outside in the hot day, I look around to find a barren land.
“Back to my original thing,” I say as she climbs on her motorcycle. “Peter Halvorson wants his sister dead.”
“That we can agree on. Bet he puts a pillow over Erik’s face as soon as his brother gets out of the hospital. That guy always seemed cold in a fucked-up way.”
I get what Goose means. She and I are killers. We didn’t get ahead in life through ethics and good manners. We’ve killed plenty of people to get ahead and stay in charge.
However, the Steel Berserkers Motorcycle Club has rules. We aren’t killing family members to make an extra buck. The Halvorson family lacks those rules. Peter’s refusal to warn Austen is simply a power move on his part, pure and simple.
I don’t know whether my old feelings for Austen are dumb or something more meaningful. However, I refuse to let her get iced to make Peter Halvorson richer.
Several hours later, we near our destination. Banta City rests between northern hills and a southern valley. The city’s lights sparkle when we ride closer. On the highway, I race past an increasing number of signs for casinos, racetracks, nightclubs, and other tourist spots.
Arriving to town late in the afternoon, Goose and I plan to hit up Austen’s workplace rather than her house. She runs a low-cost veterinarian office in the rougher part of Banta City. Since Austen has the money to not work, I decide her clinic proves she’s got a big heart.
