Page 8 of Live Love Steal (Destroyers MC: Skilletsville PA #2)

A leash - Sketch

I sobel seethed in the back seat while Bear seethed in the front. His glare kept shifting from me to her as I drove to the club to drop him off.

In the clone of Isobel’s car.

And she noticed.

Luckily , she hadn’t noticed, or had a chance to notice, her plates screwed to the back of the car.

“ Someone stole this car?” Isobel asked.

I checked the rearview mirror to see what she was looking at.

Ah , the broken steering column and the rigged ignition “key” I’d used to start the car.

“ I thought you were supposed to get that fixed,” Bear grumbled.

“ He did. On the wrong car.” Isobel was not being helpful.

Of course, Bear noticed. “ And just how would you know that?” He twisted his bulky frame around to stare at Isobel .

Wisely , she kept quiet.

“ Because I fixed hers.”

Bear turned that glare on me. “ You fixed—fucking idiot.”

“ That’s not fair.”

I didn’t need Isobel fighting my battles. “ He’s right. I shouldn’t’ve helped you.”

“ You both deserve each other.” She made a noise of disgust and crossed her arms.

“ Fuck you, girlie, when we get to the club?—”

“ Bear !” Damn it. I had a feeling I knew what he wanted to say and stopped his dumb ass from making things worse.

“ What ? You have to talk to Wolf . And until he clears her, she’s on lockdown. Escorted 24/7. You’ll love that.” He fired the last part at Isobel .

“ I suppose you’ll be the dumb ass escorting me?”

“ Iz .” Damn it. They were going to kill each other before I even got to the club. Showing disrespect like that was certain to get Bear riled up.

“ For your information, I have a better job than that.”

He did. Basically , it was still escorting people around, but those people, one in particular, was now my boss’s boss. The rest was the boss’s family, and of that equation, the family took precedence.

A cushy job, if you ask me, because all of them could take care of themselves. Right down to the teenager.

“ Let me guess… your job is eating food and grunting?”

I pressed my lips together because… damn, she nailed it.

Bear turned red. “ I am not fat.”

“ I didn’t say you were. You did.”

“ Sketch , put a leash on her. Better yet. A muzzle .”

I cleared my throat. “ Let’s just all be quiet, okay?” It was directed at the entire car.

Bear , however, wouldn’t listen. “ You had time to fix her car, but not this one?”

“ I had court.” I omitted telling him how long it took to get the parts on back order to replace the steering column. That would send him right over the edge again.

“ Fuck . I forgot about that.” Bear looked around the car, then back at me. “ You didn’t get him?”

I blew out a breath, then inhaled through my nose, counting just like Isobel taught me. I got two cycles done when Isobel broke her silence. This time, her tone was much softer. “ It’s postponed.”

“ How would you know that?”

Breathe in… out…

“ We were trapped in an elevator, and he was late for the appointment. But his ex didn’t show either, so they moved it to tomorrow.”

“ What she said,” I added.

Bear softened his tone. “ Man , I’m sorry. You’ll get him. I know you will.” He stared out the front for a few moments, then ruined things.

“ An elevator, huh? Bow -chicka-bow-chicka-bow...” He hummed a cheesy porn soundtrack.

I reached over and smacked him in the chest. “ Knock it off. It wasn’t like that.”

He looked into the back seat. “ Bullshit . You two were fucking like rabbits when Whoosh and I walked in. How much screaming did we miss?”

Isobel made a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a squeak. And her eyes shot daggers at me. Not Bear . I sent her a look of “ WTF ?” back.

“ Don’t answer that,” she warned.

Her tone made me laugh. Sure , that pissed her off more. But damn . Bear would never believe three times. Not in that short of time. Or was it one long session broken up by snacks?

“ You dog .” Bear chuckled, too. He glanced in the back. “ Even riled up, she’s pretty. I can’t say I blame you much. But you still should’ve known better.”

What was there to say to that? I flipped my blinker and pulled into the short driveway that ended in a gate. The junkyard had a fence, manned gate, and the speck on it took note of Bear , me, and finally Isobel . His mouth opened to ask a question, but Bear cut him off.

“ She’s escorted and off limits. Got it?”

The prospect nodded and waved us through.

“ I miss having Smoke on the gate,” Bear mused.

“ He’s of better use where he’s at now.” Enforcer status suited him. I parked the car. “ I’m going to go talk to Wolf . Iz ?” I held out my hand to help her out of the car, but she ignored it.

She stood up and looked around the lot. “ I’ve been here before.”

Bear raised an eyebrow at me. The insinuation was, “ See ? She’s one of those girls, and you weren’t there first.” And shit. If she partied here, I definitely wouldn’t have been the first brother to hit on her.

“ Do you still have that ’67 Karmann Ghia ?”

Ah , the chick magnet… or it should have been one. “ Silver ?” I asked. And then revised my question, “and rust.”

Bear snorted.

“ It wasn’t that bad.” Isobel brushed me off.

“ Lady , it was a piece of shit that had holes in the floorboards where someone tried to brake too hard and their feet went through the underpanels,” Bear laughed as he spoke.

That wasn’t its only issue. “ Not to mention the wiring.”

“ What was wrong with the wiring?” Isobel asked.

“ Chewed by rats. I think some of them still live in it.” Bear was having a great time baiting her. I should put an end to that. And no, that wasn’t jealousy talking.

“ You still have it?”

“ When were you here?” Bear asked.

“ About six years ago with my father.”

That explained a lot. I shot Bear an I -told-you-so look and jumped into the conversation. “ About that long ago, I tried restoring that bitch. Trust me, it ain’t worth it.”

“ Didn’t you dump about eight grand into that piece of shit?”

“ Shut up.”

Bear belly laughed. He wiped a fake tear from his eye just to rub it in. My club brothers teased me for months straight about that stupid project. I finally ran out of money and admitted defeat.

It sat near the back of the lot. Collecting more rust and probably more rats.

“ A car like that…” Isobel trailed off.

I pointedly looked at the Kia , which was a clone of hers. “ How in the hell did you end up with one of those?”

She took offense. “ I could afford it.”

That … I couldn’t argue with, much. “ Your dad could fix up any car you wanted.”

“ But I wouldn’t ask him to.”

Bear’s hand landed hard on my shoulder. “ You have a president to talk to. I’ve got a whiskey calling my name, and Iz here is coming with me.”

Fuck .

Time to face the music.

“ I can stay out here,” Isobel offered.

Bear interjected, “ No . You’re coming with me. Maybe Smoke is here to watch you. But until we get your car back, you’re our guest.”

“ Your prisoner, you mean?”

He shot me a look that plainly said, Control your fucking woman .

I ignored it. “ My guest.”

Isobel searched my face for lies. There weren’t any there for her to find, but that obviously didn’t make her happy. “ Just remember, I’ve had a shit day, I have a presentation tomorrow, and if I lose my job? I’m coming here and making your life miserable. Got it?”

At least Bear had the intelligence not to laugh.

“ Got it.”

Bear switched arms and wrapped one over Isobel . I wanted to tear it off, but had shit to do. As I made a beeline for the office upstairs, Bear led her to the bar, saying, “ Are you a whiskey woman or a tequila one?”

God damn it. That was Bear’s twisted way of watching my back. If I came down to her drunk ass hanging on a brother, I’d know… at least it would happen before I got in too deep.

Upstairs , Wolf and his wife, Tits , were in the office.

The door was open, but that wasn’t stopping them.

They made out like teenagers. I knocked on the door frame to announce my presence.

Tits straightened her corset and tucked in bits of clothing.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her partially dressed, and certainly wouldn’t be the last time.

Those two made an art form of fucking in strange public places.

“ Did you get your kid?”

Why did he have to lead with that? I pulled out a chair and sat down. Even trying not to notice, I could feel those two communicating without talking. “ It’s postponed.”

“ Why ?”

Time to lay it all out. I started at the elevator, moved to my ex not showing up, but getting the hearing delayed because I wasn’t there either, then to the parking lot. I stopped and looked at Tits . She knew a whole lot about this club, but she wasn’t club.

“ Babe ?” Wolf motioned to the door with his head, and she slipped out, shutting it behind her.

I blew out a breath. “ Isobel’s car is the match to our drop car.”

Wolf didn’t make a sound. But I could hear the swearing inside his head.

“ And ?”

“ And , I offered to fix her car.”

His eyes narrowed. “ And ?”

The next part hurt. “ I used the parts… and got it fixed, and, uh… Whoosh took her car, not the drop car.”

Wolf leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. After a moment or two of letting me squirm, he asked, “ Is she still with you?”

“ Downstairs with Bear .”

He nodded. “ Whoosh is running silent, too, I suppose?”

“ Yeah , and I think he’s also running empty.”

Wolf tensed. “ What do you mean running empty?”

“ No drugs. They’re already in the panels in the car I got out on the lot.”

He deflated. “ This is bullshit.”

It was. But it also wasn’t my place to tell him that.

Something crossed his face. “ This Isobel , she pretty?”

He would have to pick up on that . “ Yep .”

A lesser man would’ve wilted under his stare, but I rallied and took my punishment. “ I fucked her. Three times.”

This time, he swore out loud, creatively. Finally , he stated, “ I never thought you were a dumb ass.”

“ Usually , I’m not.”

“ Just when it comes to women.”

That was a low blow. But deserved. My ex was a piece of work. However , Isobel didn’t need to be lumped in with that. “ Isobel is innocent in this.”

“ How innocent?” His words hit like bullets slamming into a target.

How could I put this without being a jack ass? “ Her father buys parts from us. That I can confirm. But she’s not…” I couldn’t find the right words.

Wolf grunted. “ She knows our reputation. That’s good. Bear’s got her?”

I nodded.

Wolf gave it another thought. His eyes went to the door. “ See if Tits is in the lounge.”

I peeked out, but she was nowhere in sight…which meant she was downstairs. I relayed that info to Wolf .

He smiled. “ Problem solved.”

He had way too much faith in his wife. “ You can’t honestly tell me Tits is going to put the fear of God into her.”

Wolf’s head went back. “ I beg your pardon. You’ve met my wife.”

Met her, almost pissed my pants when she pulled a knife on me, and laughed my ass off when she beat one of our prospects in a cage match. “ Yeah , I have. The problem is? She’ll take Isobel’s side.”

I’ve played poker with Wolf . He’s one of the best in our club. He truly doesn’t have a tell. But in that moment, he didn’t have his game face on. I knew I was right. He knew I was right.

“ My plan so far is this. Lock down Isobel here. Find Whoosh at the drop point, fix the deal, get her car back, and send her home.”

Wolf shook his head. “ We’re not babysitters. If you leave her here, someone is going to do something stupid.”

“ More stupid than taking her on a run?” I bugged my eyes out a little to remind Wolf that I had the drugs sitting right outside in a stolen car I hadn’t had time to fix.

He stared at me. There was something in that heavy gaze that I didn’t understand. “ Three times, huh?”

My eyes narrowed. What was he getting at? Before Tits , Wolf ran our hookers. It was an awful long time ago, and I should have forgotten that factoid. But it chose that moment to pop back into my head. “ She’s innocent... an innocent .” I tacked it on with extra force.

“ Not if she fucked you three times, man.”

I’d never won a fight against Wolf before.

He had military training, I didn’t. Even with a bum leg and a few years on him, I’d bet hard money he’d wipe the floor with me.

That didn’t stop my fist from clenching, or the adrenaline dump that swept through my system, preparing me for the fight of my life.

One I couldn’t do. I wasn’t an officer. Wolf was my president. Raising a hand against him was tantamount to treason. I loved my life here, the patch, my brothers. But what he insinuated was wrong.

Wolf raised an eyebrow and pointed at my fist. “ That’s what I’m referring to, idiot.”

I straightened my hand and shook out the tension, trying to salvage the situation.

But I didn’t have words right now. There was a reason I was called Sketch , and it wasn’t wholly because I could draw.

It was the way my eyes turned crazy when I was angry.

Even before I was a member here, people backed down after one look at my eyes.

And when they didn’t? I fought like hell to make my “sketchy” reputation stick.

“ I’m not letting you take Isobel . I don’t think your wife would like that either. ”

Wolf laughed in my face. “ Sketch … you got it bad.”

“ Got what?” I growled.

His laugher quieted, but the shaking of his shoulders and the amusement on his face only grew.

“ Love .”

“ No .” Oh fuck no.