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“ W hat the hell was that?” Wrath drops his gun on one of the tables, while Ruckus moves furiously toward the bar.

“Where the fuck is Polly?” Sinner tuts, already digging his finger into the hole in his shoulder impatiently.

“Whoa…you don’t wanna get that infected. Rocco’s knocking for her now,” I tell him, moving behind the bar to pour everyone a fuckin’drink.

“Jeez, Sasq, how much do you fuckin’ weigh?” Vike’s voice comes out strained as he struggles through the door with Sasquatch leaning on his shoulder for support. “Anyone around here feel like helping a brother out?”

“I gotcha,” Wrath heads over, slipping himself under Sasquatch's other arm and heading to the pool table.

“Boss, the blood’s pissin’ outta him. We should get him to hospital,” Vike points out.

“Relax, I called Quinn.” Raze shakes him off, marching straight toward me and knocking back one of the whiskeys I’ve poured.

“Quinn? Quinn? She deals with the fuckin’ dead,” Sasquatch growls as the others help lift him up onto the pool table. Wrath is right, the blood’s flowing from his leg far too fast, and he’s starting to turn really pale.

“That mess is beyond what Polly can fix.” Now he’s steadied himself, Raze turns back around and heads over to assess the damage, and I follow, taking a bottle of Jack with me.

“How bad is it?” Sasquatch snatches the bottle I hold out to him and glugs it straight to the back of his throat.

“Pretty fuckin’ bad,” Raze tells him, stripping outta his cut so he can pull off his shirt. “You’re lucky that fucker never cut through an artery.”

“Who the fuck were they?” Wrath takes the shirt from Raze and rips it down the middle before he starts wrapping it tightly around Sasquatch's thigh.

“I don’t know, but they sure didn’t want us completing that run for Burlusconi.” Raze is looking full of fuckin’ fury.

“Got it.” Sinner’s voice chimes out proudly, and when I turn around, I see him smiling as he holds the retrieved bullet between his blood-soaked thumb and finger.

“Who needs Polly, huh?” He laughs as he heads behind the bar and pulls out the first aid kit.

I watch him take it over to the table and chair in the corner, then brace himself before pouring the liquid alcohol straight into his wound.

I’m a little surprised that he even flinches.

Sinner has the luxury of not feeling pain; I’ve always assumed it’s part of his condition.

Though Saint doesn't share the privilege, he has to feel all the repercussions of Sinner’s actions when his personality takes over.

“I told you to wait,” I snarl back at him.

“C’mon, you know Polly’s gonna get here and tend straight to Huggy Bear. I got this covered.” I watch him fumble his blood-dripping hand through the first aid box and march over to him.

“Whatcha looking for?” I rip it from his hands.

“A golden fuckin’ ticket… What d’ya think I’m lookin’ for, Dev? I need to close this up.”

“Just have some fuckin’ patience, we got Polly and Quinn on their way.”

“I can fix that.” A tiny voice comes from behind me, and when I see Lettie, the mother of Saul’s kid, standing among all the chaos, I’m a little shocked.

“I heard all the commotion, figured I could help.” She steps forward and takes the box from my hands.

“Makes a change from lying awake and overthinking.” She smiles sadly.

Lettie’s been staying here at the club since Saul died, and I guess the fact that her father was to blame for it is the kinda thing to keep you awake at night.

“Where’s the kid?” I ask her, knowing how protective she is of her son. Rory is all we got left of Saul, and since our fallen brother can’t be here to ensure he’s safe, we’re all taking on the responsibility of making sure he’s got everything he needs.

“Angelica was awake, I asked her to sit with him. I figured you guys might need me.” She roots around in the box, eventually pulling out some thread and cutting it to size with the scissors. “I’m no expert, but I’ve stitched up a few Reaper bullet wounds in the past,” she assures Sinner, calmly.

“I’m more concerned that you left your kid with Angelica. That bitch can’t even take care of a fuckin’ dick.” Sinner laughs at her.

“Rory’s fast asleep, all she has to do is call me if he wakes up. I’m sure she can manage that.” She starts cleaning up his wound.

“Dev, get over here, we need help holding him down,” Ruck calls over. Looking up, I see that Polly and Quinn have both arrived and are fussing around Sasquatch.

“You go, I got this,” Lettie promises, pressing her hand to my shoulder and looking confident.

“It’s appreciated,” I tell her, rushing toward the pool table so I can bear all my weight on one of Sasquatch’s shoulders. Polly drenches his wound in alcohol, and he hisses through his teeth like a wild fuckin’ beast.

“I know it hurts, but it’s gotta be done,” she tells him, and he thrashes and bellows in agony when she does it again. I yell over to Tawk to bring a fresh bottle of whiskey when I see him hovering around by the bar.

Lifting one from over the counter, he trudges over with his face covered in splats of blood. His hands are still sticky from it, too. Thankfully, the feral look in his eyes seems to have dimmed. Tonight’s ambush was brutal and savage, but something tells me it’s exactly what Tawk needed.

“Keep him steady,” Quinn reminds us, as I tip back the bottle and keep my buddy fueled.

“Didn’t you bring anything to knock him out?” Raze asks, pacing the floor with his phone pressed to his ear.

“I’m not used to tacking up the living, Raze,” she reminds him as she looks at what she’s dealing with.

“But you can fix it. Right?” Wrath looks scared.

“I can fix it, but I can’t promise it’s gonna look pretty when I’m done. What the hell happened?”

“Fuckin’ maschete,” Sasquatch manages, flaring his nostrils.

“Just hang tight, buddy. Quinn here will fix it,” Raze promises, tapping him on the arm before disappearing into his office.

I can see what happened tonight has Raze spooked.

Those vans came outta nowhere while we were making our exchange, and the men that piled out of ‘em were ruthless.

Whatever their cause was, a lot of ‘em died for it tonight, and we’ll be sure to get the ones that got away.

“Who the hell were those fuckers? They weren’t bikers, that’s for sure.” Vike looks rattled.

“Dead men fuckin’ walkin’, that’s who they are,” Sasquatch grunts, before throwing his head back in more pain.

“I’m sorry, I’m doing my best to be careful.” Quinn looks up at him, trying to stop her hands from shaking as she stitches him back up.

“Here.” I hand her the bottle, “Knock some of that back, steady yourself up,” I instruct her, and she smiles gratefully as she takes it from my hands.

“It’s never a dull day here, is it?” She knocks some back before handing it back to me and getting back to work.

It’s four am by the time I get home, and I’m looking forward to hitting the sack and shutting the world out. I pull my bike up next to Corey's car, and when I see the living room light on, I pray that it don’t mean his girlfriend’s here too.

It ain’t that Millie Dawson ain’t a nice girl, in fact, she’s fuckin’ perfect. I have nothing against her, except the way she makes me feel.

I open the door to let myself inside, and when I see Corey, sitting in the corner chair, with a half-empty bottle of vodka in his hand, I can see straight away that something’s wrong.

“What happened?” I drop my keys on the side table and head straight for him.

“You smell like death.” Corey looks up at me with blank, red-rimmed eyes.

“Run didn’t quite go as planned,” I explain, still wondering what the hell’s happened here. Corey doesn’t drink, especially not on a fuckin school night.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, my night didn’t go as planned either.” He laughs bitterly, lifting the blunt to his mouth and sucking it back.

“What the—? C’mon, you know this shit kills your brain cells.

” I snatch it from him and stub it out. “Corey, what the fuck happened?” I take the bottle from his hand, too.

I’m not a patient person at the best of times, and with my head throbbing and my muscles aching, I don’t have time for fuckin’ guessing games.

“Millie ended it.” He makes that laugh again, then looks up at me real seriously while he waits for a reaction. “I asked her to marry me, and she fuckin’ ended it.”

“You asked her to wha—? Corey, you're eighteen years old!” I can’t believe I’m hearing this.

“I know how old I am, but I also know that she’s the one,” he tells me.

“Corey, you don’t know that, how can you?

Millie’s the only girl you’ve ever been with.

” I take a long drink from the bottle before taking the chair beside him.

“Listen, kid, I get that you love her, and that you're feeling scared about the future, but trying to tie her down like that ain’t the way to go about it.”

“You don’t get shit, Dev. You're checked out. You don’t care about a single person but yourself.” He shakes his head and snatches the bottle back outta my hand.

“How dare you fuckin’ say that.” I stare back at him. “Corey, I’ve been taking care of you for twelve years. Everything I do, I do with you in fuckin’ mind.”

“You treat me like a kid.”

“That’s because you are a kid,” I point out, “And tonight just proves it.” I take the bottle back off him and head toward my room.

“How many people had you already killed when you were my age?” he asks before I make it to the door.

“Too fuckin’ many,” I pause to answer without turning around.

“And that's exactly why I treat you the way I do. I don't want this shit for you.” I spin back around to face him. “Corey, you’re better than this. You gotta a fuckin’ brain, you got opportunities.

I just want you to use ‘em. I get that you're sad about the girl, but–-”

“You know her name, Dev, use it.” He shakes his head at me. “Why the fuck do you hate her so much? What did she ever do to you?”

“How I feel about the girl doesn't matter. I’m your brother. I want what's best for you ,” I point out. Ain’t no way I’m gonna tell him that the only thing I got against her is the fact that being around her makes my dick constantly hard.

“Millie wants what's best for me, too. Do you not see how happy she makes me? I love her, Dev, and I get that it’s a concept you're never gonna understand, but–”

“What does any of this matter? She broke up with you,” I snap back at him. “And if you want me to be honest, I’m happy she did.” I see how hurt he is by my words, but I stand by ‘em. “You're heading for college, long-term relationships are hard, and she’d only be a distraction.”

“I’m not going to college, Dev. I’m staying right here in Long Beach. I’m dropping out of school, and I’m joining the club.” He stands up on wobbly feet. “Don’t you get it? I’ve never wanted to go to college or be a doctor. I just want to be like you.”

“Like me?” I charge at him, gripping the front of his t-shirt with both my fists. “You do not wanna be like me,” I warn him. “Corey, you're good, you're smart, and you have so much to offer the world.”

“Not enough for Millie.” He raises his eyebrow sarcastically.

“Stop that, we both know the reason she ended things was because she sees what I see. She doesn’t wanna hold you back. Millie...” I say her name and feel my body stiffen. “...She’s done the right thing. Move on, Corey, get out there and be somebody.”

I move on to my room and slam the door behind me. I don’t know what's gotten into the kid, but he needs to see sense. I’ll speak to him in the morning when the alcohol has worn off and he’s had time to sleep on things. Hopefully, by then, I’ll be in a better mood.