Will’s face went dark. He met Charlie’s angry eyes. “I protected you.”
“Not according to your buddies here,” said Charlie. He held up his smart phone to display a picture of Will sitting at the bar with half a smile on his face. She wasn’t in the picture, but Will knew he had been talking to Eva when it was taken. “You think I was about to go along with your insane plan? Instead I took this around town until someone recognized you. Imagine my surprise when they told me who you were.”
“You should have come to us, Will,” said Jase. “What the fuck made you think this was a good idea? Were you seriously going to try and storm the cartel with two men—one of whom isn’t even trained? What did you think you were gonna do?”
“The same thing I should have done before: slit every last one of their fucking throats,” said Will in a steady, firm voice.
Ghost let out a sardonic laugh and scratched at the side of his face. “Will, I love you, bro, but this is just fucking suicide. This is stupid, and you’re not stupid. You need to listen to us.”
“No, you fuckers need to listen to me,” said Will, fury boiling within his veins. He stalked around the bar to meet them, ignoring the feel of Eva’s questioning gaze on him. “Two years ago, I couldn’t get either fucking one of you to listen to anything but a violent answer, and now you both have the balls to stand here and tell me I’m wrong for fighting? You would rather me try to talk my way out of this mess again and watch Henry get them killed, watch this place get burned to the ground at my feet again? I don’t think so. I fucked up before, and it’s not happening again.”
“Two years ago is not what’s happening right now,” said Jase. “Can you get that through your thick skull? You’re putting these people at risk, and for what? You can’t bring her back, Will.”
“Shut your fucking mouth, Campbell!” yelled Will as he took two hard steps and shoved into Jase’s chest with his own. Jase had height and weight on him, but in that moment Will felt no fear, no pain, no future, his rage laced with the illusion of invincibility. “This has nothing to do with her.”
“We are literally standing on the ruins,” said Ghost. “You’re lying to yourself, and we can’t let you drag these people into this anymore.”
Before Will could explode at Ghost, he heard Eva’s voice from behind the bar. “Will, what are they talking about?”
Will felt pain in his chest as he turned. Her big brown eyes stared into his, beautiful and trusting and sweet. She didn’t belong in this dark, brutal world of his—just like his grandmother had not belonged, had been completely unprepared. He wanted to shuffle her away to some place as peaceful and pretty as she was, where he could keep her safe and happy and ignorant of all of this.
He couldn’t find words to answer her. He could only feel the desperation in his eyes, on his face, as he stared at the sadness on hers.
“He’s a fucking fake, is what he is,” said Charlie. “Should’ve known you were a crazy asshole from the second I saw you.”
Will turned to glare at Charlie. “You would be a pile of bones right now if it weren’t for me, you helpless little fuck. You have no idea—”
The rage in Will’s eyes made Charlie take a step back, and made Jase take a step forward, putting out a big arm to act as a barrier between the two men. “Jesus, Will, get a grip.”
When Jase’s other hand made contact with Will’s shoulder, he threw it off angrily and shoved Jase in the chest with both hands and all his weight. Surprised, Jase stumbled backwards until the jukebox broke his fall. “Don’t fucking tell me what to do, you stupid prick! I’ve had it with your shit!”
With frightening speed, Jase launched himself off the jukebox and came at Will, eyes as black as hell. Will squared up and stood his ground, fists knuckle-white, knowing Jase’s hit would likely knock him on his ass and not giving a single fuck anyway. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around him from behind and twisted him away from Jase’s warpath.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, now!” said Ghost, as he kept Will wrapped in his left arm and stuck out his right to bring Jase to a halt. Ghost positioned his body like a shield between them, using his weight to keep them apart. Jase scrabbled and shoved at Ghost’s arm, his teeth gritted, glaring at Will. “I know we’ve all been wondering about this ‘will they or won’t they’ tension between you two, but let’s save it for the clubhouse.”
Jase gave in first, but pointed a threatening finger at Will. “You’re fucking asking for it, Bowers.”
Will flipped him the bird and yanked himself out of Ghost’s grip, straightening his shirt. He looked over to see Eva watching him with a sad look in her eyes. In the chaos, Charlie had moved around to stand next to her, and his expression gave no illusions to how he felt about Will.
“Let’s go,” said Ghost, tapping on Will’s shoulder. “They’re waiting for us.”
Will didn’t know what to say to Eva. He was so full of rage and bile and resentment that he couldn’t imagine what she must be thinking at that moment, staring at him from across the room. He watched her until Ghost was tugging at his arm, pulling him toward the door. Jase didn’t wait for either of them, but stalked out into the parking lot.
Will left without saying a word to her, unsure of where he was being led or what the fates had in store for him next.
~ SIXTEEN ~
Everything was just a blur of green light and deep shadows as Eva pushed her way out of the bar and into the forest meadow. The cooling air of coming autumn made the tears on her skin sting cold. She could still hear the rumble of the motorcycles as they wound their way down the highway and into town. Charlie called out after her, but she ignored him, picking her way through the forest until she found a spot still lush with wildflowers and soft, green grass. She lowered herself to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest.
Her thoughts raced with the new information. Will, in a motorcycle gang? It certainly explained a lot—and the thought of being pressed up against him as he drove them around on a powerful bike was instantly appealing. Eva wondered why he had bothered to keep such a miniscule thing from her, considering, but the confrontation between him and the two other bikers made clear that it wasn’t about hiding it from her—it was about hiding her from them.
She couldn’t forget how deeply pained Will had seemed as he snarled and shoved at the men, men who introduced themselves as Will’s friends. The way they talked to him enforced that, and it was the second time the big black-haired one named Jase had reached out to Will. They cared about him, just like she did. But she didn’t understand their anger with him.
“Eva!”
She sighed as Charlie’s voice came closer, finally spotting her in the meadow. He came to stand before her with his arms crossed.
“I don’t want to talk to you, Charlie,” said Eva, sniffling. She turned her head away from him. “I can’t believe you just betrayed Will like that, after everything he’s done.”
“Excuse me?” said Charlie, instantly flustered. “Eva, did you not hear everything that was said in there? That man is a criminal, and he works with other criminals.”
“Oh, Christ, that’s not what bothers you,” said Eva. “Half your friends from the neighborhood have records, so don’t get all high and mighty on me, Charles Murdock.”
“You know he wanted to mount a two-man war, with me and him, to track down those cartel boys and kill them? He was gonna rope me into that bullshit, if I hadn’t put a stop to it. And it’s not just us he’s tried to fuck over. According to his biker buddies, he’s been pulling shit for months now. That guy is dangerous, Eva.”