“That girl. You’re going to let her walk away?”
Pressing my lips together, I spin the cold bottle a few times before I turn to look at him. He’s staring straight ahead. I take in his profile for a moment, then flick my gaze to the wooden bar top. It’s scarred and old. It’s been here probably longer than Shocker. It’s seen a hell of a lot over the years.
“She’s not mine to keep,” I point out. “And what? You’re a counselor now?”
I know I’m being a smart-ass, and without a doubt, I’m being a dick. But the fact that he’s telling me I can keep her, that I shouldn’t let Lainey walk away, is bullshit. He knows it, and I know it, but for some fucking reason, he thinks he’s got some goddamn authority on this shit.
“I just want the family to stay together. And I know you’re in love with her.”
I should probably be sad about the way he’s talking. Maybe he thinks that life is just that easy, or maybe he just wants everyone to be happy. Either way, it doesn’t fucking matter because rules are the fucking rules.
“There’s a contract involved. It’s no longer in anyone else’s hands. No decisions need to be made. They’ve already been made. And Lainey was the one who made them.”
Shocker grunts, shifting in his seat before he brings the shot glass in front of him to his lips and downs it. Obviously, he doesn’t agree with my answer. He turns his head, his eyes locking in on mine, and I realize he really doesn’t fucking agree with my answer.
“We’re all in control of our destiny, Viking. If you think that any part of your life is out of your hands, then you don’t deserve her.”
“Why the fuck do you care?” I demand.
Lifting my beer to my lips again, I turn my head and stare straight ahead before I drink half the bottle, and then I set itdown again, waiting for him to respond. When he doesn’t say anything, I turn to look over at him.
Shocker is climbing down from his barstool and makes his way toward me, wrapping his fingers around my shoulder before he jerks me slightly.
“I’m dying, Viking. I’m dying, and I can’t stand to have someone else live the same life I did.”
“What the fuck?”
He shrugs a shoulder, a small, weathered smile playing on his lips, but I can’t focus on that because his eyes are so goddamn sad-looking.
“I let my Lainey walk away. She left and never came back because I thought that club rules were more important than love. They aren’t, Viking. They never will be.”
He shakes my shoulder one more time before he breaks eye contact with me, then hobbles away. I watch him, unsure that I’ve heard what I just have. Dying. Shocker is dying. Something shifts inside me, my insides squeeze, and my heart fucking cracks.
I love the old goat.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
VIKING
Sitting on the sofa,I watch the men and women come and go. I watch as they play darts and pool, as they drink, and I don’t talk to anyone. Thankfully, everyone notices my shit mood, or feels it, and they leave me alone.
Everyone except Bullet.
The moment he appears in front of me, he doesn’t say a word. He just plops the fuck down, sitting a little too goddamn close as he clears his throat. “You are not happy,” he announces.
“I am drunk,” I state.
He shakes his head once, extending his legs and crossing them at his ankles. I watch as he lifts his arms behind his head and laces his fingers as he leans backward into his hands. Clearly, he’s not going to be going anywhere anytime soon. He’s settled in and comfortable, which means he’s probably going to piss me off.
Bullet lets out a low whistle before he speaks. “I know you’re doing the right thing. You’re loyal to a fucking fault, Vike.”
“Am I?” I ask, but I don’t comment further, mainly because I don’t fucking believe him and I don’t feel the need to comment on it.
Fuck that shit.
My entire life is the Vicious Reapers, and I don’t think you can be too loyal to your family. I took my vow to the club seriously. And I continue to take that seriously. I am not my father. I refuse to be anything like him. Maybe that’s my fault. I don’t know.
“I’m not going to point out the obvious,” he begins. “Like the fact you love Lainey. What I am going to say is that you’re really fucking with her head and your own by being with her right now.”