Beyond the Horizon (Sons of Templar MC #4)(64)
Asher raised a brow at his normally silent brother. He was usually on Gage’s wavelength about a fight. He relished it. Shit he’d been through, sometimes Asher thought killing was the only thing that kept the f*cker breathing. But he was different. Human, now that Mia had chased away the demons that used to define him. Fucker damned near cheerful ever since he married her.
“Bull’s right,” he agreed. “The Tuckers are crazy f*cks, arguably crazier than you,” he told Gage. “But that shit, shooting that stupid f*ck, I’m doubtful it’ll start anything. They may be crazy, but they’re not stupid. Word’s gotten around about Dylan Tucker. He’s a pain in even that crazy family’s ass. They won’t start anything with us over a flesh wound….” he paused, his fists tightening, “especially when they find out it’s a result of the bashing of two our woman.”
Bull leaned forward. “How will they find that out? That f*ck’s not likely to tell the truth.”
Lucky grinned. “I’ll set about educating the right people so word gets back to them,” he volunteered.
Asher nodded. “Good. We’ll be on alert, just in case. Let Cade know. But I’m doubtful it’ll turn into anything more…” he paused, “and if it does, we’ll burn their entire f*cked up empire to the ground.”
“You’re quiet,” Asher observed, stroking the hair from my face.
“I’m always quiet,” I returned from my position against his chest.
“Not with me.” He jostled me so my face tilted to meet his.
“We haven’t been together long enough for you to make generalizations about how am I am not with you,” I replied with a slight bite to my voice.
His eyebrows rose. “We’ve been together long enough for me to know when shit is swirling in that head.”
We were in bed. We hadn’t made love, we had barely spoken. The afternoon had been taken up with dealing with the bleeding man in our living room, with the battered Bex, and with some very angry bikers.
“Why do you guys have all the fun without us?” Gage whined when Asher had opened the door to him, a man I didn’t recognize with a ‘Prospect’ patch and Bull.
The joking atmosphere had quickly dissipated when three sets of eyes focused on me. On the patched up cut on my forehead, which I’d done myself after convincing Asher we didn’t need his doc. My nursing training had me able to patch up Bex and myself. Manly rage saturated the air when their eyes moved to Bex, on the sofa beside me, her bruises worsening with every hour.
“Please tell me we’re dumping a body,” Gage spit out, his eyes moving to the prone Dylan.
A groan emitting from his body answered the question.
He grinned. “So you did save some for me,” he rubbed his hands together, “much obliged.” His face had turned cold, and the glint in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine. He was not the man who’d been joking with me at the club days earlier, the man who’d been playing with Belle. This was a killer.
“This one’s catch and release brother,” Lucky informed him, putting a hand on his chest when he tried to advance further.
Gage scowled at him. “Come again?”
Lucky sighed. “It’s not my first choice either, but the women in the building voted against us.”
Gage’s scowl deepened. “Since when do women get to dictate how we dole out justice?”
“Since women got the vote, I’m sure even alpha bikers have noticed a little thing called feminism,” Bex interrupted from her perch on the sofa.
His hard gaze settled in on her face, I watched him visibly flinch at the state of it. His scowl deepened.
“Men who do that,” he nodded to her face, “need to meet the reaper. Preferably slowly,” he gritted out.
Bull stepped forward, surprising me by speaking, “Can’t say I don’t agree with you, brother, but be mindful of our audience.” His eyes touched mine. “These women have been through enough shit. They don’t want to become accessories to murder, I say we oblige them. Cade will also appreciate us not risking the club with this f*cker,” he continued in a rational voice.
Gage glowered at him. “What the f*ck ever,” he ground out finally, stepping back.
The men moved away from him, giving him the opening he needed to advance on Dylan’s body. His motorcycle boots connected with Dylan’s crotch savagely, and he cried out, curling into himself.
No one said anything, Lucky raised a brow.
Gage shrugged. “We can’t kill him. No one said anything about making him a eunuch.”
Lucky chuckled slightly, and even Bull grinned.
You’d think at that moment I would have been focused on the fact I had multiple bikers and a man bleeding from a gunshot wound in my small living room. Instead, my attention was on Bull. On the way his attractive mouth was turned up. How his eyes seemed clearer, not haunted by those demons I recognized years ago. This amazed me and gave me hope.
“Flower, how about you take Bex, both of you pack a bag.” Asher’s voice tickled my ear and his hands tightened on my hips.
“Pack a bag?” I repeated, confused.
Asher turned me so I faced him. “Yeah, you’re coming to the clubhouse until we can ensure it’s safe to come back here.” He frowned at my front door. “We’ll get you a decent security system,” he added.