Page 11 of Sniper

“Maybe so, but we grew up with Gio and he kept me safe when I overheard some things I shouldn’t have while Cole was out of town. They’re good guys, nothing like your ex I promise.”

I wished I could just believe these women. I wanted to. It would make my life and my stay here easier if I could just believe that. “I want to believe you, but I can’t, and it has nothing to do with you.”

“Duh,” Harper shot back. “But you could see for yourself if you stop hiding out in here all day every day.”

“Harper,” Grace chided.

“No, she needs to hear this. What if she’s here for months before they find this guy? She’s gonna get depressed and maybe go crazy.”

Harper was right, of course. “I’m not ready,” I admitted, throwing them a bone because they were being nice to me, and I appreciated it. “This is all a lot and I’m trying to adjust the best I can.”

Grace smiled. “I was on the run too, so I know what you’re going through. When you’re ready, come find us.” She took a hesitant step forward and wrapped me in a hug. “You’ll be safe here. I promise.”

“Thank you.” Her kindness meant something to me, and I returned her hug.

When they were gone, I threw myself on the bed and thought about what Cal and Harper had said. Both of them were convinced of Sniper’s inherent goodness and I had no evidence to disprove their words. He was gruff and grumpy, which was not very different than me. But his loyalty and fierce determination to protect me simply because of my brother, couldn’t be ignored.

Maybe, just like me, Sniper was a lot of things. Some of them good. Some of them bad.

I stared up at the ceiling, listening to everyone else on the other side of the door having fun. Drinking and eating. Laughing and living it up. I should have taken the women up on their offer. I should’ve had a drink with them. I should start living my life again since I was no longer on the run.

But I was still in hiding.

Chapter Eight

Sniper

“Did you get any oil inside my fuckin’ car?” Maverick looked at T-bone and frowned. “Jesus fuck man.”

T-bone smiled, his broad shoulders shrugged as he laughed. “That fuckin’ oil pan had a hole in it, and I didn’t notice until it was too late.” He wet another rag in the utility sink at the back of Steel City Motors and scrubbed it across his face. “This shit’s never gonna come off.”

“Good thing you don’t have a woman to impress.” Pike, one of the prospects, laughed, but he backed up when T-bone’s formidable frame stepped forward.

“Fuck off. I need a beer,” he growled and headed for the small fridge. “Anybody else want one?”

“You’re off the clock, and I’m done for the day at the gun range,” Maverick announced. “So I’ll take one.”

“Me too,” I called out, followed by Pike and Vandal.

“Not me,” Falcon shouted over the rest of us, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Tara’s lettin’ me take her out tonight.” He’d been trying to score with this stacked stripper and his smile said he had big plans.

“Good luck,” Pike told him. “Be sure to bring lots of singles.”

“Asshole,” he grumbled. “Tara gets tens and twenties.”

“Come on, ladies,” Maverick instructed. “It’s too fucking hot to drink inside.” He shoved a beer at me and T-Bone turned out the lights and locked the door, then we all headed towards the clubhouse.

A metal fence separated the clubhouse parking lot from the Steel City Motors to keep outsiders off our property, which meant we had to walk around it to get inside. “What the fuck is this heat about?” T-bone peeled his shirt from his broad chest. “We didn’t have heat like this in Minnesota.”

Vandal laughed. “Did you even have cars in Minnesota?”

“Fuck off,” he shot back, punctuating the words with a middle finger. “Why are you all givin’ me shit when Sniper has a fuckin’ wife?”

“That’s right. How’s life with the missus,” Maverick asked, a teasing smile on his face. “She’s hot,” he offered like that was a consolation prize. “Even if she has a shitty attitude.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I felt the need to defend her. “You’d be pissed off too if your life was turned upside down by an abusive, psychopathic prick.” Even though I didn’t like her attitude, I got it. It’s why I gave her the space she craved. It wasn’t easy, but I hadn’t expected it to be. Not much in my life had been simple and this was no exception. “But her ex really did a number on her, so much that she hates all bikers.”

“If she had to run away in the middle of the night just to get away, yeah I get that.” Pike shrugged. “My ma had to do the same but with two kids in tow.”

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