Page 57 of Ride Long
Grabbing a rag, I wiped the grease off myhands.
“I need to take a break,” I said, nodding toward the compound. “CanI?”
“Yeah,” Gasket drawled. “Just don’t go breaking any morenoses.”
“Low blow, pops,” I retorted, throwing the rag at his face. “Lowblow.”
Flipping the bird over my shoulder, I was sent off with halfhearted laughter. They were still hurting after Marini blew one of their own away. There wasn’t a lot of love for Harley around this place, but he was still Fortitude. The remaining bikers were all watching their backs, wondering who would be next. That was the vibe I had to counteract. I had to give these men security. Fat fucking chance ofthat.
A civil war was brewing, and Gasket wanted to stoke the fires.When Chaser gets back, we have to talk. Pfft. I just had to look around to know only half of the club would up and followme.
It was still hot as hell inside the compound. The whole place was as hot as a super volcano about to blow itstop.
In the common room, there was another Real Housewives of Fortitude luncheon happening on the sofa. Shondra, Emily, Raquel, Kelly, and Sierra were gathered around an industrial-sized fan, their hair blowing behind them as it swung back and forth. They each had a tumbler of iced tea—who knew what the alcohol to tea content was—and were wearing bikini tops and shorty shorts. They did look awfully depressed, and it wasn’t a result of the humidity.So they didcare.
“Hey, Sloane,” Sierra called out when she spottedme.
“Hey…” I eyed themwarily.
After their reaction to Sam’s appearance yesterday, I wasn’t sure I could trust them. They’d been almost patronizing…up until the point the gunshot rang out. Psychological warfare seemed to be their usual MO, and I wasn’t down with it at all. I was a straight up in your face, tell it like it is kind of woman. It was probably why I got along with men more than those of my own gender. Hopefully, yesterday had shocked them out of their badhabit.
“You got a sec?” Shondra asked, beckoning meover.
Reluctantly, I ventured over to their little enclave. Kelly scooted over, letting me in on the edge of the fan’s sphere ofinfluence.
“How are you?” Emily asked. “After yesterday, Imean.”
I shrugged. “How am I supposed tofeel?”
Shondra snorted and flipped her hair over hershoulder.
“I didn’t like Harley,” I went on, “but he didn’t deserve what he got. Killing… It takes something away from you.” And my dad had done a lot ofit.
“You said you killed someone,” Shondra said uneasily. “Didyou…”
I nodded.Yeah, I really didthat.
An awkward pause halted our conversation, the droning of the fan as it blew around the humid air filling thegap.
“Sam’s gone,” Raquel murmured after a moment. “Her room’s empty, but all her stuff is stillthere.”
“People are saying she ran,” Sierra said, looking worried. “Where would she go? Everyone knew she had no family. None that wanted her, anyway. We thought we wereit.”
“After what happened to Harley, she would’ve been…” Kelly trailed off, looking ratherpale.
“It would’ve broken her,” Shondra said, her expression softening. “Sam couldn’t stay here. She’d already been through enough.” She glanced atme.
“She didn’t have any family?” I asked, feeling nauseous. There was so much to Sam I’d never even known, yet… She had a chance now she was out of Fortitude and on her way to Yvette. Yvette would help her get back on her feet, deal with Harley’s death, and startanew.
“She only had Harley,” Kelly explained. “She was kicked out of home at fifteen, and they moved in together. You know what shit is like. I think that’s why Harley joined Fortitude. He couldn’t support Sam or himself, so he did what he was good at.” She shrugged. “She hinted that things were different at the start. The club changed him for theworse.”
I nodded, studying the tattoo on my finger. Sam had said as much, but I hadn’t realized how alone she was.Not anymore,I thought to myself.Now she has Yvette. I know they’ll be best of friends. She’s so much likeher.
“I never liked you,” Shondra declared out ofnowhere.
“No shit.” I rolled my eyes, making the other women giggle, albeitnervously.
“But what you did for Sam…” she went on. “That was reallysomething.”
