I made my way up to my bedroom and stared at the wall. My room had been unchanged since I had been a teenager, and it made me sick to my stomach. Pictures of me and Melody were strung up on fairy lights, courtesy of my mother. And as I walked over to the pictures, memories of laughter and milkshakes and movie theater dates came rushing back.
Until he found me.
“Hey,” Tanner said.
I heard him close my door and I sighed. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”
He walked up to me. “She’s pretty. Who is she?”
I turned to face him, ignoring the question. “What do you want?”
He peered over at me. “I wanted to come check up on you. You kind of stomped your way through the house and the guys are worried.”
“You can stop lying.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, so the guys aren’t worried. But, it’s not like you really give a shit about us. That’s why you’re not a full member yet. You’re still in a selfish mindset.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep from killing him. “You wanna know why I don’t trust cops?”
He turned to face me. “Yeah, I think it would be pertinent to know considering we’re about to be working with one.”
My eyes gravitated back toward the pictures. “That girl? She was a good friend of mine. And she was killed. And because she was killed by a cop, he got off scot-free and someone else was framed for her murder.”
I saw Tanner’s jaw drop open out of the corner of my eye. “Holy shit, are you serious? Dude, I’m so sorry.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Save your apologies for the poor schmuck that went down when her abusive stepfather should’ve been the one in jail for it.”
Tanner sighed. “I can’t honestly say I trust them, either. I mean, I don’t have a reason like that, but they’ve always sort of found a way to screw me over because of the life I’ve chosen.”
I snickered. “Then, I can’t imagine why you’d agree to all of this.”
“Because this cop is Summer’s sister, and I know I can trust her.”
“Because you trust Summer? Or because you’ve met this cop?”
And when he didn’t respond, I clicked my tongue. “You guys really are pussy-whipped, aren’t you?”
He gripped my leather jacket and spun me to face him. “You can talk shit all you want, but you know this is our only option. Now, I don’t agree with the decision the guys just made, but I’m outnumbered and can’t do shit about it. So, until further notice, you’re the one who’s watching over Sloane and keeping her safe.”
I blinked. “Sloane’s the cop?”
He released me. “Yeah. She’s the cop.”
I blinked again. “And after what I just told you, you really think it’s a good idea that I’m the one to watch her?”
He sighed. “I know it’s a shit end of a shitty stick, but you’re the best person to make sure she doesn’t get her nose into stuff that she shouldn’t.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “So, not only do you want me watching her six, but you want me to make sure she doesn’t find anything to bring down us along with those asshats.”
“Exactly.”
I drew in a sobering breath. “And you know this is a bad fucking idea?”
“We don’t really have a choice, Finn.”
My eyes whipped open. “You know they’re making me do this babysitting because all of you guys are too pussy-whipped to take a detail like this.”
He glared at me. “If you use that term one more time.”
I bucked up to him. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that you guys aren’t making these decisions that affect all of us with nothing but your families in mind, and maybe I’ll walk back my statement.”
He shook his head. “One day when you have a family of your own, you’ll understand.”
My eyebrows rose. “A family? You think that you and Summer are a family? You think that Brooks and Porter, with their girls they haven’t even been with for a year, are family?”
He loomed over me. “Summer is the mother of our child.”
“But that doesn’t make you a father, Tanner! Just because you gifted your DNA to someone doesn’t make you a dad, and it certainly doesn’t make you a fucking family!”
In a flash, his hand wrapped around my throat. He barreled me against the wall, tightening his grip as we stared off with one another. My nostrils flared with anger. I saw the need to kill wafting behind his eyes.
And after smacking his hand away, I laid down the truth. “When this is all over, if I’m not a full member of a crew I’ve dedicated the last two years to? I’m out.”
Then, I brushed by him and made my way out of my childhood bedroom.
“Does that mean you’ll do it?” Tanner asked.
I scoffed. “Not like a fucking have a choice now, do I? You know, since I’m not shacking up with anyone and playing house.”
I charged my way down the stairs and I felt all eyes on me. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge before cracking it open and chugging it down my throat. I’d need all the booze and sanity I could get for a job like this, especially if they wanted me to play cover-up so we wouldn’t get arrested along with the Black Flags.
And after chugging the beer, I looked around at the rest of the guys staring at me.
“Yes, I’ll fucking watch her. Now, stop staring,” I said.
Brooks came up to my side. “You have to watch her like a hawk.”
I tossed the empty beer can into the trash. “So we don’t get arrested, I already know.”
Porter came out of the woodworks. “Seriously. She can’t find anything that’ll take us down along with them.”
I shrugged. “Not my problem. I’ll do my best, but that’s all I’ve got.”
“Our families are at stake here,” Archer said as he walked up behind me.
I turned to face me. “Then, maybe you should’ve thought about that before shacking up with someone while running the life you have.”
“Finn,” Brooks said curtly.
I shook my head and turned around. “You don’t get to take that Dad voice with me. I’m not your son, I’m not your pet project, and I sure as hell am not your servant. I’ll watch the cop as best as I can, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t get killed. But, that’s all I’ve got right now since you guys don’t ever want to include me in the big decisions that affect my life. So, get ready to have a taste of your own medicine for once.”
I knew the guys were shocked at my attitude, but I didn’t give a shit. They’d been railroading me and teasing me and mocking me for two years now, and I was over it. I pulled another beer from the fridge and pushed my way through the crowd of men I knew I’d end up leaving behind after this was all said and done.
Because I was done with their horseshit just as much as they were done with mine.
“Fucking cops,” I murmured.
I cracked open my beer and tried to find a room in the house that didn’t house a terrible memory that would haunt me until we got out of this place. But, the more I walked around, the more I remembered just how tainted this house had become. It made me sick to my stomach and it only caused me to chug my beer quicker.
Then, after leaving the empty beer can on a table in the hallway, I made my way back outside.
“So,” Brooks said as the guys piled out behind me, “we need to start coming up with a plan on how to set up Chops and the Black Flags.”
I snickered. “We get a cop on our side and you don’t even wanna use her to do this shit right. Figures.”
“Shut up or get out,” Brooks growled.
I spun around on him. “Quit leading this crew with your heart and lead with your head, then maybe we can talk. But this entire time, I’ve reaped the consequences of you assholes judging this situation based on family and not reason. So, I get to be angry. I get to be upset. You don’t.”
Brooks charged me but Porter stepped in between us. Porter shot me a look, but I only shot one right back at him. And after the standoff was complete, Tanner stood behind me and led the conversation.
“Finn’s got a point, and the reason why he’s upset is because you guys won’t admit it. We’ve been backed into so many corners because we’re playing it safe that now we’ve had to come onto turf that isn’t ours just to stay safe. We need to start using bold strokes, or we need to turn this over to the police.”
I sighed. “Finally someone gets it.”
Porter looked back at Brooks. “They’ve got a point.”
And after the rest of the guys got done agreeing, Brooks cleared his throat. “We need to figure out what Sloane can know and what she can’t know, because Finn’s biggest job will be keeping her separated from the shit she doesn’t need to know about. So, let’s draw those lines before she gets into town.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a plan. But, if we’re really going to utilize her to the best of her abilities, she needs to know everything that the Black Flags and Chops have done. She needs to see the evidence we’ve got.”
“Even if that evidence implicates us?” Archer asked.
I nodded. “But, us killing their members? All of our monetary dealings? That stays away from Sloane. She doesn’t need to know how we make our money or what we will do once this is all said and done. All she needs to know is what’s pertinent to taking down the crew.”
Tanner placed his hands on my shoulders. “I’m with Finn.”
Cole nodded. “Me, too.”
Archer grinned. “Despite the attitude, he’s always been the logical one. I’m with him.”
And after Porter and Brooks got done staring at each other, they nodded their heads.
Which concluded what was probably the quickest and most efficient church meeting we’d ever had.
