Like I said, he’s still a retard. Can’t speak for shit. But it got worse when you left . . .
Had it? I couldn’t fucking remember ever speaking right. Then again, I didn’t have many memories before that night—just a blur of hanging with Ky and avoiding my old man’s fists. But I remembered watching my pop put a slug through my mama’s head with crystal clarity. I remembered her dead, open eyes and the smell of her blood. And I remembered hiding the trunk she’d brought with her in my room, in my closet. I’d never seen what was inside, and forgot all about it . . . until today.
I stared into nothing, just listening to Mae breathing, for a good few hours. Until I opened the journal and stared at my mama’s handwriting. It was messy, but if what Mae had read was true, it sounded like she wasn’t from a good background. I didn’t even know if she’d gone to school.
I didn’t mean to start reading. But I did. With Mae in my lap and our boy in her belly, I read about the woman I’d always been told was nothing more than a slut, a shitty excuse for a mother.
Shade Nash was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. The minute I saw him, and he smiled my way, I was his . . .
Chapter Six
Tanner
“Shit, darlin’. You’re making me nervous with all that leg twitching and hand rubbing. You okay?” Beauty pointed her knife at me over the table. “Don’t even try to tell me my brisket ain’t good, because then I’ll know you’re a liar, Tanner Ayers. And I don’t tolerate liars.”
Beauty’s voice ripped me from my head. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously on me, which made me smirk. “Nah, Beauty. You know your brisket is the best.”
She smiled and sat up straight, shaking her shoulders. “That’s what all the boys tell me.”
Tank raised his eyebrows at his woman. “All the boys?” he said dryly.
Beauty tapped Tank’s cheek with her red-taloned finger. “You know I weren’t no virgin before you came riding into my life, darlin’. So yeah, a few boys have tasted my brisket . . . ” She leaned closer to my best friend. “And they fucking loved the taste . . . as do you.” Beauty got up from the table, winking at me before getting us some more beers from the fridge.
“Tann?” Tank asked. “You thinking of Adelita?” His head tipped to the side as he watched me. Tank sighed. “Tann. Fucking speak. Fucking say something! How the fuck are you still not telling me a thing?”
“She’ll know by now. She’ll know her cousin has been taken.”
Tank’s eyes narrowed. “She’ll understand in time.” I ran my hands down my face. I wasn’t so sure she would understand. Tank didn’t know Adelita. She’d be pissed at me. Pissed I didn’t stop it. But what the fuck else was I supposed to do?
“You not feeling the club anymore?” Tank asked quietly. “You’re not wanting out, are you?”
My stomach fell. “Fuck no.” I meant every word. Of course, I wasn’t sure how the rest of my brothers felt about me and Adelita. Didn’t know if Styx still wanted me around after I kept this from him. “I’m good,” I said. Tank looked as though he didn’t believe a fucking thing I was saying. “Tank . . . It’s the first time I’ve ever felt like I belong somewhere. Everything else in my life has gone to shit. But I want in this club. Never fucking doubt that.” I cleared my throat, changing the subject. “You heard anything from AK and the others?”
Tank stared at me for a bit too long. But then said, “They’re almost home. Clean retrieval.”
But I knew Quintana. He’d be losing his shit, and no doubt planning on bringing hell to the Hangmen’s door. I could only imagine Adelita. The fucking fire that lived in her igniting over this. How that fuck Diego would use it as the excuse he needed to truly bring the force of the Quintana family to Texas.
“You know—” Tank started to say, when suddenly our cells went off. I ripped mine from my pocket and read the text. “They’re back.” Tank got to his feet, went over to Beauty, and kissed her. “Gotta go to church, beauty queen.”
Beauty slapped Tank’s ass as we walked out. “Gonna go see Mae.” Tank waved over his shoulder, and we jumped