Page 1 of Gentleman Wanted
Prologue
Gentleman
“Where are they?” Gemma stared out of the rain drenched window, her leg bouncing up and down uncontrollably. She was nervous, and I couldn’t blame her for that. In her situation, I would have been worried as well.
The Black Aces were coming, my brothers. Men I had ridden with for as long as I could remember. Men I had fought alongside.
Men who had put a hit out on the woman sitting opposite me.
So yeah, Gemma had a lot to be nervous about.
It didn’t matter how many times I told her that it was ok now, that Truth would not have set up this meeting if Ruin still thought she was the one responsible for his father’s death. She was still nervous.
She vibrated with it. It made her body shake. The hand that was wrapped around the steaming mug of coffee was trembling so much that hot liquid spilt over her fingers, making her skin red and blotchy.
“Gem.” My hand came down over hers, pulling away the cup before she could really hurt herself. I flattened her shaking hand underneath mine against the sticky tabletop. “Stop.” I waited until her eyes rose to meet mine. “You need to calm down.”
Slowly she nodded, but the fear didn’t leave her eyes. She looked like a hunted animal.
And that’s pretty much what she had been for months. I knew she trusted me to keep her safe, which was why she nodded. But that didn’t stop her from being afraid.
And the fact that the Black Aces were already over an hour late didn’t really help matters. The longer we had to wait, the more nervous she became.
I knew she was tired. I was as well. It had been a long time since I didn’t have to look over my shoulder, almost a year since that fateful Valentine’s night in Cooks.
“Gemma, it’s going to be ok. Truth….”
She glared at me. “Truth will do what he’s told. I don’t trust Truth. He pulled a gun on Cali…” Her voice trailed off, eyes skirting away to settle back on the empty street beyond the windows of the small cafe we were in.
Sighing, I let go of her hand. Everything she said about Truth was right, but I had to believe that he wouldn’t lead me into an ambush.
Hell, if the club still wanted Gemma dead, they would have taken her out without phoning me up for a meet. I didn’t doubt that for a second.
“Fine, don’t trust Truth, don’t trust the Aces.” I tried to grin at her and was rewarded with a scowl in return. “Trust me. Have I let you down?” My eyes crinkled at the edges as I let them drift over her frowning face.
Gemma had always been a pretty woman, and that was still very much the case, maybe even more so since I had gotten to know her so well, but there was a hardness in her face now. A tightness around her eyes and mouth that showed clearly how much of a cluster fuck the last year had been.
“Have I ever let either of you down?”
The words were barely out of my mouth when the window behind me exploded, sending shards of razor-sharp glass flying everywhere.
I threw myself sideways, screaming at Gemma to get down as a second bullet embedded in the wall opposite. I didn’t have a chance to see if she was ok though. I launched myself at the high chair that sat at the end of our table, knocking it to the ground and curling my body around it.
