I returned to the clubhouse bright and early the next morning hoping Tristan’s fear had enough time to fester. During my experience in the Marines, as well as the club, I’d learned one thing was almost always true—people wouldn’t talk unless they were scared. And he would be scared if he had any sense because not only was he locked up in a clubhouse full of pissed off bikers, I’d spent the night thinking of various ways to make sure he told us everything he knew.
It was fairly early when I arrived, so I was surprised to find Coal in the common room with Brinkley perched on his lap. “Morning, brother,” I said and eyed him curiously.
He smirked and shook his head. “Don’t look at me like that. Savior’s on guard duty this morning and since I was already up, I tagged along. Figured there would be a lot going on this morning.”
“Anybody else here yet?” I asked.
“Copper, Layla, Bronze, and Spazz are here, but I think they’re still asleep. Grant crashed in one of the empty rooms, and Savior’s with our guest.
“How’d you end up with the baby?” I asked.
He opened his mouth to answer when Mackenzie came through the door that led to the kitchen carrying a tray with three or four plates of food. I immediately got to my feet and took the tray from her. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“She offered to cook breakfast, so I offered to watch Brinkley while she did,” Coal said.
“I need to grab the coffee. You guys go ahead and dig in,” Mackenzie said and darted back to the kitchen.
I was trying to decide if I should give him some advice or let him make his own mistakes when he took the words right out of my mouth. “You don’t need to say anything. Nothing other than me being a nice guy to a girl who’s having a rough time is going on,” he said with a smile. “And I like kids. Isn’t that right, Princess Brinkley?” he cooed causing Brinkley to erupt in a fit of baby giggles.
Mackenzie returned with the coffee and a huge smile on her face. “If you keep that up, I’ll be asking you to babysit all the time. She rarely laughs like that with anyone other than me.”
Coal chuckled. “Biker babysitter is definitely not what I pictured when I decided to move here.”
Mackenzie laughed lightly. “I would never ask that of you. Truthfully, I don’t have a need for a babysitter. If I can’t take her with me, I don’t go.”
I was curious about the baby’s father, but my attention shifted when Copper and Layla entered the room. “Food!” Layla squealed in delight and reached for a plate.
“Mornin’, Prez,” I said.
“Morning. I thought your ass would’ve woken me up hours ago.”
“I wanted to, but some things can’t be rushed,” I said cryptically and shoveled a forkful of food into my mouth.
“We’ll get started as soon as everybody else gets here,” Copper said.
“Great,” I said and went to the kitchen to get another plate of food.
Twenty minutes later, we entered the shed to find Tristan exactly how we left him—tied to a chair wearing a gag and a diaper.
I turned my head from side to side to crack my neck followed by my knuckles and yanked the gag from his mouth. “I don’t have the fucking time or patience for any of your shit. Tell me what I want to know and I won’t hurt you.”
He stared at me for several long beats before his face morphed into a snarl. “Fuck you! I ain’t telling you shit!”
I grinned maniacally. “Have it your way.” With that, I grabbed his thumb and yanked it back until I heard a satisfying snap followed by his shrill scream.
“Fuck!” he screeched. “Why’d you do that?”
I gave his other thumb the same treatment before I answered. “I didthatbecause you’re being a disrespectful little shit. Tell me what you and Oliver talked about.”
He grimaced and pressed his lips into a thin line. “No?” I asked and sighed as placed a large bowl of ice water on the table.
“What did you and Oliver talk about last night?” I asked again, but he wouldn’t answer. I held his hands in the bowl of freezing-cold water while he screamed. Batta took a few light swings at his arms and legs. But still he refused to utter a word.
As much as I hated to admit it, I knew we’d reached the point where we were pointlessly torturing him, and that’s not what we were about.
I stepped beside Copper and kept my voice low. “Prez, we can do this all day long, but he’s not gonna talk.”
Copper looked down at his phone. “Guess it’s a good thing our backup plan just arrived.”