GUNNERPresent Time
The last year has been torture. Pure, unrelenting torture.
I can't get my mind off her. She's invaded my thoughts 24/7, appears in my dreams like some kind of ghost I can't exorcise. I've tried everything to forget her. Whiskey, women, work. Nothing sticks long term. She always comes back, one way or another.
Stupid bastard. You're way too old for her.
That single thought was the only reason I didn't make a move when she was still here. The eleven year gap between us felt like a canyon I couldn't cross. So I stayed silent, stayed distant, stayed safe.
And it cost me everything.
She left.
And there's no reason for her to come back to this town, since her family moved out. Hell.
I haven't told anyone about this pathetic situation, but I'm sure my brothers noticed the change. They comment on how I'm more snappy than usual. I just ignore them. How could I tell them I'm angry about losing a girl eleven years younger than me? A girl who was never mine to begin with.
I distracted myself with the club girls for the whole year, but it was useless. My mind always pictured her. I tried working out to exhaustion, but it only caused me to lose weight while my head stayed filled with her.
One of the girls I've been using for distraction has been getting on my nerves lately. Tori. She's been insisting on going bareback, swearing she's on birth control, but I'm not falling for that garbage. There have been women who tried to get the Old Lady cut by getting pregnant. It's a tale as old as the club itself. Protection is non-negotiable. Besides, who knows what you could catch from someone who opens her legs to half the brotherhood?
Tori sits in my lap right now, trailing kisses all over my neck. She tries hard to get the property cut. If she thinks I'll make a club girl the President's Lady, she's deluded. She's a decent distraction though, so I keep her around.
And she looks a little like her. Skinnier, cheaper. But enough to make me hate myself.
I down another shot of whiskey, intent on getting properly drunk, when Tori gasps dramatically.
"Oh my God! Who dresses like that to a club?!"
She exclaims in disgust, her friend Alie agreeing from Wolf's lap. Those two joined the club together and I suspect they planned to trap my brothers into giving them property cuts. More than one guy mentioned they insisted on not using protection.
I turn my head in the direction Tori's looking, and my eyes go wide.
"Get off!"
I hiss at Tori and push her away, not even looking at her. My gaze fixes on the girl at the bar. I stand as soon as Tori scrambles off my lap, my legs moving before my brain catches up.
Almost as if sensing me near, she turns around. That smile. That damn smile.
"Hi Gunner. Long time no see, huh?"
She comes up to me and gives me a hug, leaving me speechless. I know she hates being touched by most people, so this is new. This means something.
"Hey, Helena."
I wrap my arms around her small frame before pulling away, already missing the contact.
"What are you doing here?"
Genuine curiosity in my voice.
"We're on summer break, so we came home. Scooter will come here later, he's meeting up with his friends."
She says and I take this moment to really look at her. She was beautiful before, but now she's something else entirely. A year at Berkeley has refined her somehow. More confident, more dangerous, more everything.
"Why don't I get you a drink and we can talk?"
"You know it. I'll take whiskey on rocks, thanks."
I glance at the prospect behind the bar and gesture to my table. He nods, already preparing Helena's drink. The kid knows better than to make her wait.
As we make our way to the booth, I notice Tori and Alie's eyes go wide. They start whispering frantically when Wolf greets Helena with a hug. I narrow my eyes at them. Suspicious behavior. Something's not right here.
"Oh, would you look at that, the whore is here."
Tori mocks and fury floods my system. No one insults Helena in my presence. Just as I'm about to destroy her, Helena's laughter cuts through the room.
"That's rich coming from you. I'm not the one spreading my legs for anyone with a pulse."
Helena smirks at Tori, then at Alie. Pure malice in that expression.
"Watch who you're talking to! I'm an Old Lady, you can't speak to me this way."
Tori suddenly declares, making Wolf turn to me with raised eyebrows.
"Someone claimed her?"
He whispers, shocked. I shake my head, anger building. This woman is delusional.
"No you're not. You really think I'd fall for that?"
Helena hisses into Tori's face with a sinister look.
"You have no cut. And you'll never get one. These guys aren't stupid enough to be trapped by you."
She pauses, letting it sink in.
"And even if they were, I'd just beat you up like I did in high school."
Tori turns pale. So does Alie. Fear flashes across both their faces.
"You know them?" I ask.
"This one," she points at Tori, "is Victoria. Remember when I beat up the girl who revealed my past to the whole school? That's her. And her," she points at Alie, "her name is Natalie. She's been bothering me for years."
"YOU WITCH!"
Victoria shrieks, lunging at Helena. But before Wolf or I can react, Helena executes a perfect roundhouse kick to her head. Victoria's face smashes into the table with a sickening crack.
"Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson. Want me to break your face again?"
Helena's tone is mocking, casual. She turns to Natalie.
"Move and I'll break your legs."
"Get out of the club's property and never come back. Both of you!"
I growl at the two women.
"If I ever catch you near my club again, it won't end well."
I want them gone. No one treats my little sister like that in my territory. And hearing these are the women who tormented her at school only reinforces my decision. They don't deserve to breathe our air.
"Damn, that was fast. How the hell did they end up here?"
Helena asks after the women leave crying, holding their faces.
"They just showed up and said they were looking for work."
I shrug, frustration gnawing at me.
"At first they worked at the bar as waitresses, but then they started sleeping around. We made them club girls. I didn't even think to check for any connection to you."
I should have been more careful. Should have protected her better.
"Not your fault. Let me guess, once they started sleeping around, they tried to trap you with a baby."
Wolf looks stunned. I stare at Helena in shock.
"How do you know? They kept trying to sleep with the brothers without protection!"
Wolf exclaims, making me glare at him. Helena doesn't need to hear this. She's only eighteen.
"I'd expect that from them. Becoming an Old Lady would set them up for life."
She shrugs, sipping her whiskey like we're discussing the weather.
"Victoria's been like that since school. She was obsessed with Scooter because once he took over his father's company, she'd never have to work. Easy life. That's all she wants. She tried the pregnancy trick before, you know. That was quite a show."
Helena laughs, and the sound is both beautiful and terrifying.
"I'll go check if they didn't do anything stupid."
Wolf exits the booth, leaving us alone. The air feels charged suddenly, intimate.
"What did she do?" I ask, leaning forward.
"After Scooter left, I stayed at his parents' house. My dad's request. I still had physical therapy, so he didn't want me alone. One day, Victoria showed up claiming she's pregnant with Scooter's kid. Demanded he marry her and take responsibility. She brought ultrasound pictures and a pregnancy test."
Helena pauses, smirking at the memory.
"At first, his parents were furious. Thought he actually cheated on me and got someone pregnant at eighteen. But after investigation, which was me analyzing the picture she brought, we caught her in the lie. The picture was literally printed from the internet. She didn't even read it. Dated three years earlier, baby was five months old. So I confronted her in front of Scooter's parents. After some shouting, she backed out, ran from the house bawling. I figured she'd try something like that again. Just not with the club."
She frowns.
"But I guess she's just that stupid."
I'm stunned. That woman really tried to trap someone with a fake pregnancy. Good thing I got rid of her. She's crazy.