Page 95 of Hell & Back

She continued on to the couches wondering why Maverick didn’t sound happy about letting this Tinker person inside. She took a seat at the end of one of the two leather couches facing each other and didn’t realize she’d been frowning until Bellamy said something.

“What’s got you frowning so hard?” Bellamy asked. “I would have thought chocolate cake would have put a smile on your face.”

Kylie laughed and smiled between bites. “It did. I was walking past Maverick as he was talking to someone on the phone. I think it must have been one of the prospects at the gate and he didn’t seem too happy about whoever it is that’s here.”

“Tinker.” Ginny and Jane said the name with such dread, Kylie turned to look over the back of the couch in the direction they were staring.

“Uh, yeah. That’s what he said.” Kylie felt a sense of unease settle over her after the way the two friends said the man’s name.

Coming through the door was a man who looked to be in his mid to late fifties. He was around five feet ten or eleven inches, had long wiry gray hair with a matching beard that reached the middle of his chest and had really big arms. He wasn’t smiling as he scanned the room. She didn’t know if he was looking for someone in particular or not. He didn’t look all that friendly from where she was sitting. Maverick walked up to the man andoffered his hand. They clasped hands and pulled each other into a shoulder bump. When they broke apart and moved to take a seat at the bar, Maverick had obvious signs of strain around his mouth.

“Who is that?” Bellamy asked.

Ginny and Jane exchanged a brief look, then Ginny answered. “Remember us telling you about Tinker not long ago? The VP before Dagger? That’s him. He isnotto be trusted, ladies.”

“What do you mean?” Calliope asked as she handed a rattle to Calliope to play with.

“He had a reputation with the sweet butts. He tended to get a little rough with them and he was a complete asshole to the old ladies. Right, Jane?”

“Huge asshole.” Jane stared at the back of Tinker with a sour expression on her face. “I can’t believe he’s back.

“What do you think he’s doing back here?” Kylie was a little freaked out. The man sounded like nothing but trouble and she worried about what his intentions toward the club might be. She couldn’t imagine what life in the club must have been like ten or fifteen years ago. Would she still have fallen in love with Tuck and Darren? She wasn’t sure she could have overlooked their involvement with their dealing in drugs and guns. And the thought of worrying about whether or not she’d ever see them again every time they went out or if they’d get caught and go to prison or die was more than she could handle. Hell, everything they’d been through with the Phantom Furies was more than enough for her. She was looking forward to some quiet time with her men and soon to be baby girl.

TINKER

“What the fuck? What do you mean you have to check and see if I can come inside the gate?” Unbelievable. Who did this young punk prospect think he was keeping him out of the Sons of Redemption clubhouse? If he was in charge, some heads would roll.

But that was thing wasn’t it? He wasn’t in charge anymore and if he couldn’t convince the club to take him back he was on his own. No money. No home. No prospects whatsoever.

The prospect must have gotten the go ahead to let him in because he waved and pushed a button, allowing him entrance. And wasn’t that a burr in his ass. He started up his bike and throttled it up, maneuvering his way toward the front door.

Once he was released early for good behavior, he’d had to have his brother pick him up and take him to his bike. He’d had so many dreams of riding his bike that when he started it up again for the first time, he actually cried. All he’d wanted to do was hop on his bike and ride until he had the urge to stop somewhere. Anywhere. It had taken him a good month to get his anger and resentment under control enough to approach the club.

He checked out the many cars and the few motorcycles on the lot and he realized he didn’t recognize any of them. There was a time he’d known every single one by heart.

The last time he’d had any contact with someone from the club had been right after he’d been taken to prison. Race, Dagger and Maverick had shown up to visit him, to let him know that his place within the club would be there when he got out and they all looked forward to his return. After fifteen years? Well if that wasn’t some bullshit.

Tinker had been so angry, the top of his head had damn near exploded and he’d gone off on Race. He’d told him the Sons were no brothers to him because a true brother wouldn’t have left him there to be captured by the cops. He told him that he didn’t want Race or anyone else from the Sons to come visit him again. And if you were to ask Tinker, Race gave in a little too easily. He, nor anyone else from the club had been to visit him since. Fuckers.

Reminding himself he was there for a reason, he parked his bike and headed toward the door. He pulled it open and came to a stop just inside, giving himself time for his eyes to adjust. He couldn’t help but notice that there were more women than brothers in the clubhouse. What the hell? Where were all the brothers? Would he even recognize any of the brothers he used to know? Speaking of knowing someone, Maverick headed his way, his hand outstretched in greeting as he got to him.

“Tinker. It’s good to see you. If we’d known you were getting out, we would have been there to pick you up.” Maverick shook his hand and pulled him in for a shoulder bump.

“Yeah. Well, it was a surprise to me, too.” Really it hadn’t been. He’d gotten out five years early after serving ten by busting his ass and toeing the line and he’d hated every minute of it. It was all worth it now that he was out because he had some scores to settle and he couldn’t do that from inside the pen.

“Why don’t you come over here and have a cold one?” Maverick led the way to the bar where they both took a seat.

Tinker sat sideways on the bar stool so he could also take in the other people in the room. He was used to never leaving his back exposed in prison and it didn’t look like that would change anytime soon. He accepted the cold bottle of beer from a prospect that looked to be in his early twenties if he had to guess. He thought the prospect looked a little too clean cut to be a Sons prospect. The one at the gate hadn’t been much better. Whathappened to the rough and tumble, bad to the bone prospects they used to recruit?

He took a long pull from his bottle, closing his eyes in reverence. Damn, it was good. The first few years he’d mourned the taste of an ice cold beer almost as much as he missed the taste of a woman’s pussy. That was the next thing on his list. He needed to get laid.

“Thanks, Cutter.” Maverick tipped his head to the prospect.

Seriously? He was thanking a prospect? In Tinker’s day the prospect would have been lucky not to get hit upside the head if he took too long to bring their drinks. Hell, maybe even if he was super fast, he could get cuffed upside the head anyway. The brothers never had to have a reason to abuse the prospects. It was just a part of their initiation and it served to guarantee they didn’t recruit any pussies.

So far, he wasn’t impressed with what he was seeing. Case in point, who the fuck were all these women? It looked like half of them were pregnant and the other half were holding babies. Where were the whores? Fuck. His dick was dying to get wet. Ten years without a pussy was enough to drive any man insane. He took another deep drink.

“How did you get here, Tinker?”

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