Page 29 of Inglorious (Unwanted Bastards MC #1)

Disturbed by the tone, I turned the conversation towards him and his career.

As nice as Drew was, I didn’t want him witnessing my pain.

On questioning him, I discovered Drew was single with no kids.

Drew informed me of his expectations for the role, and I agreed with most. We were discussing whether he needed a uniform when the club doors opened and Inglorious entered.

Noticing Drew and me, he headed straight over.

“Hey,” he muttered and dropped a claiming kiss on my lips. Well, why didn’t he whip his dick out and pee around me? When he finished, Inglorious held my gaze for a few seconds before holding his hand out to Drew.

“Inglorious.”

“Detective Drew Lemon. I’m applying for the sheriff’s position.”

“Nice. About time we got someone!”

“Willow and Fanatic sent Drew our way,” I added.

“Even better. Has Nanci explained the job package?” Inglorious asked, and I thumped his stomach.

“Of course. But as you feel the need to interfere, why don’t you take Drew over to his potential domain and show him around?” I said.

Inglorious grinned. “Sure.”

“There’re also cells incorporated there.”

“Nice. I guess it’s built along the theme of an old Wild West office and jail?” Drew asked.

“You’re going to love it,” I promised.

Drew rose to his feet. “Thanks for meeting with me.”

“I’ll leave you with Inglorious; he can answer any further questions as he wants to be nosy. I hope to hear from you, Drew. You’d be a nice addition to the team,” I said.

“One question: when would you need me to start?” Drew inquired.

“Honestly? As soon as possible. We’ve had a couple of petty thefts in the construction crew, but several days ago, our church was desecrated and graffitied. Inglorious can update you,” I replied.

Drew’s face sobered. “That would be good. Talk soon, Nanci, and thanks again for the impromptu interview.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you take the job!”

Drew nodded and then followed Inglorious from the building. Fingers crossed, we might have just got ourselves a sheriff.

Inglorious

The cop seemed alright, and he’d been impressed with the office and jail.

There were eight cells out back, and he’d inquired if we really thought he’d need them all.

When I replied yes, he nodded. Drew asked several questions, and I could see curiosity in his eyes about why I wasn’t president when Willow and Fanatic had said I was.

Being honest, I explained my drinking, and Drew held his hand up. He stated he didn’t judge anyone, and that was that. Drew reminded me a lot of Ramirez and Ben, and he’d impressed me. Like Nanci, I hoped that he’d take the position.

When Drew left, I headed out of town to check that the cameras on the church hadn’t been tampered with. They were set to detect motion, and alerts went to both my phone and Hercules’s. Once I was happy they were intact, I strolled back home.

As I entered the clubhouse, I spotted Sabre entering the kitchen.

The guy was so silent, he should have been named Wraith.

And Meadow clearly agreed. She turned with a large cook pot in her hands and jumped when she saw Sabre.

Meadow threw the contents of the pot over Sabre and then dropped to the floor and cowered when she realised what she’d done.

Fuck! I hurried over to the kitchen and entered. Sabre stood stock still, his eyes latched onto Meadow. She was babbling sorry repeatedly and was clearly expecting Sabre to hit her.

“Meadow,” I said softly, and she curled up even tighter. Shit. This wasn’t good. This was a clear sign of abuse. In an effort to appear smaller, I dropped low to the ground and kept my distance.

“Meadow, it’s Inglorious, can you look at me?” I asked gently.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it!” Meadow sobbed, and my heart broke for her.

Footsteps pounded from the rec room, and the door burst open. Chill entered with a wild expression on his face. His eyes swept the scene in front of him, pausing on Sabre, drenched in what looked like soup. Luckily, it had to be cold, or he’d be screeching in pain by now.

“Hey, did Sabre try to steal the fuckin’ dinner again?” Chill demanded gently as he crouched and shuffled forward in an awkward crab crawl.

Meadow glanced at Chill, and he stopped moving. Tears tracked down her cheeks, and her arms were up to defend from any blow aimed her way.

“Do you want me to get Nanci?” Chill murmured, and Meadow shook her head. “Is it okay if Sabre leaves and goes to shower?”

“I’m so sorry,” Meadow wailed.

“Don’t be. I surprised you. Christ, I’m lucky you didn’t slam me with the fuckin’ pot,” Sabre joked and backed away slowly. His eyes hit mine, and he flicked his gaze at Meadow.

I nodded. Sabre had guessed the same as me—Meadow had been abused. Sabre left, and Chill edged his way forward again. My thighs were screaming, but I dared not stand up because the last thing Meadow needed was me towering over her.

Instead, I fell backwards on my ass with a grunt. Chill slowly extended a hand, and I was surprised to see a pack of tissues in it. Meadow cautiously reached out, her hesitation plain, but she took them and pulled one out. She wiped her face and looked ashamed.

“Sorry… my reaction…” Meadow swallowed hard.

“Meadow. Think it’s obvious that something happened. However, it’s not our way to force you to tell us anything. The only thing I wanna know is, are you safe, and do you need our help?” I asked.

“Yes, we’re safe. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about the rest of today. Is it okay if Chill takes you home?” I asked.

“Inglorious, I can drive.”

“No, honestly, Meadow, I’d prefer Chill to escort you. That way, we know you arrived safe and sound. Leave the mess; I’ll have a prospect clean this up. Let Chill drive, honey, please?” I replied.

Meadow looked between us before nodding. “Okay,” she whispered and climbed to her feet. There was movement behind me, and Nanci appeared.

“Come on, let’s wash your face,” Nanci suggested and disappeared with Meadow.

Cautiously, I glanced at Chill, and although his expression was blank, I recognised the rage seething inside him.

“I’ll get Hercules to dig,” I offered, and with gritted teeth, Chill nodded.

“Find out who.”

“Will do,” I agreed and left. Sabre needed checking on.

Meadow’s reaction had affected him, even though he’d not done anything.

As I passed through the rec room, I spotted Rory and sent him in to clean the kitchen.

I told Joe to get takeaway orders and to pre-order them for delivery.

Both prospects scarpered as I headed upstairs to Sabre’s bunk.

Loudly, I banged on the door, and Sabre opened it with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“You okay?”

“Sure. It was Meadow who had the bad reaction,” Sabre replied, stepping back as he dried his hair.

“Which affected you, too.”

“Yeah. But I’m handling shit,” Sabre said.

“If you need to talk, find me,” I offered, and Sabre nodded before he turned to get dressed.

That was my cue to leave.

Three hours later.

“Gory!” Kya yelled as she dashed through the clubhouse and landed on my lap. I winced as I saw her face and frowned at Razor, who’d been looking after Kya today.

“What did you do?” I muttered as Kya beamed.

“That’s called face painting,” Razor retorted.

“Asshole, I know what it is. Why does Kya resemble fuckin’ Pennywise?”

Razor smiled as Kya grinned at me freakily. It was taking all my control not to dump her face first into a sink and scrub it off.

“That’s what Kya picked out.”

“No shit. Dude, you allowed Kya to walk around like that?”

“Yup,” Razor said.

“Gory, I’m pretty!” Kya shrieked, and I smiled weakly.

How did you tell a six-year-old that dressing like a clown from a fuckin’ horror movie while wearing a sparkly tiara was a thing of nightmares? Add in the sparkling pink shoes and the princess dress, and it was something from a fright night scene.

“What the fuck!” Chill yelled as he entered the clubhouse and plastered himself against the wall.

“Yeah, how many times did that happen?” I asked Razor as Chill’s gaze refused to leave Kya.

“More than you’d believe,” Razor mused.

Sabre and Hercules entered, and Hercules froze before a whimper escaped him. Surprised, I gaped at the fuckin’ mountain of a man as he paled and began backing up. Nice. Now I knew how to pay the fucker back when he pissed me off.

“Why is Kya dressed like that?” Sabre demanded. He didn’t appear as bothered as Hercules and Chill, but I could tell he was affected.

“Ask fuckface here,” I snapped and pointed at Razor, who was laughing at their reactions.

“Damn!” Doc exclaimed as he entered. “That’s some makeup job.”

There was a knock, and Doc turned to open the door. He took a stack of pizza boxes and placed them on a table before giving the driver a tip.

“Pizza!” Kya yelled and jumped down from my lap, heading straight for them. My eyes caught Nanci, who was coming out of the kitchen with a horrified expression on her face.

Join the club, babe. Welcome to the dark side!