Spark of Hope (MacKenny Brothers #3) - Kathleen Kelly Page 0,50
that, and you know it." He points at me. “I’m your friend, Kyle. I’ve always respected you as our president, but more than that, I thought we were friends.”
The muscles across his chest ripple underneath his white T-shirt, his anger is bubbling away under the surface. If he hit me, I’d be out for a week. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rocky this angry. It’s a quiet, controlled rage, and so far, everything he’s said is true.
“I thought I was protecting the MC.”
Rocky nods. “So, you’ve said.”
“What do you want from me?”
Rocky shakes his head and bares his teeth in a scary grin. “Fucking forget it. What do you want, Kyle?”
I purse my lips together and draw myself up to my full height. Rocky outweighs me by at least fifty pounds, so I’m not going to pick a fight with him, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him speak to me this way.
“Where’s Wheels?”
“Over in the garage. The boys put him to work to keep him occupied while he sobers up.”
“You think that was the smartest thing to do?”
With his hands on his hips, Rocky scans me up and down. “Sorry, I thought keeping him busy and not worrying about his junkie, slut of a wife or his kids, or drinking himself into an early grave was a good thing. But, hey, Prez, why don’t you tell me what you think I should have done?”
“I did the wrong thing.”
Rocky looks taken aback. “What?”
“You’re one of my closest friends. I should have kept you in the loop. I didn’t know what the fuck I was walking into, and I didn’t want any of it to blowback on you or the club.” I throw a hand in the air. “But you’re right. Above all that, we are friends, and it was wrong not to tell you. I won’t make that mistake again.”
The man visibly calms down. He puts a hand to the back of his neck and rubs. Then he opens his mouth several times as if he’s going to say something. In the end, he smiles and nods at me.
“Come on, Prez, let’s go find Wheels.”
I nod, and he claps me on the back as he walks past me.
I might be their leader, but I lost sight of the fact that Rocky and the men of my MC are more than people I need to take care of. They are also my friends. And after my family, they are the people I trust.
Following Rocky, he leads me over to the garage where we find Wheels. They’ve got him sitting at one of the wooden workbenches sorting bolts, putting them in glass jars.
“What the fuck?”
“You didn’t think I’d let him work on anything, did you?”
Wheels looks up at me, exhaustion in his features.
Rocky grins and walks up beside the man. “How you feeling?”
“You’ve had me sorting through these fucking bolts for hours. How the fuck do you think I am?”
“You need to sober up and better this than drowning your sorrows again,” replies Rocky.
Wheels glances at me, then down at the benchtop. “I heard you saw Deedee.”
My top lip curls at the sound of her name. “Yeah.”
“Rocky says she wanted to stay.”
A man can’t help who he loves. I’m proof of that. When Lola got taken, my only thought was to get her back, even though she didn’t tell me everything there was to know about her. But Lola, she’s never strayed. I’ve never cheated on her either, and if either of us did, it’s a sign that we’ve lost what we had and need to go our separate ways. Wheels allowed Deedee to do what she did. His love has twisted into more like an obsession.
“Fuck, Deedee.” Wheels’ head snaps up. “The thing you should be worried about is your kids. Do you even know where they are?” Wheels shakes his head. “Do you care?”
“They’re my kids.”
“So, act like a fucking father. It’s time to step up. Deedee is a distant memory. I’m telling you now, Deedee is dead to you and this club. She doesn’t get to come back. Am I clear?”
Wheels nods, then hangs his head.
“Not good enough. I need to you to say the damn words.”
“Kyle, I—”
“No more fucking excuses!” I pick up one of his glass jars full of bolts and throw it against the cement floor. It explodes with bolts and glass flying everywhere.
Wheels nods and stares me in the eyes. “Deedee is dead to us.” I scowl at him. “Deedee is