Page 2 of Gentleman Wanted
Chapter One
Gent
I heard them coming before I saw them.The heavy thud of biker boots on the polished hospital floor was unmistakable.
It was Ruin himself that came into view first, Truth close behind him. Both of them looked haggard, the dust and grime of the road clinging to their skin and clothes. They wore equally wary looks on their faces as I stood to meet them, straightening my back with a crack where it had cramped up from sitting on one of the hospital waiting room chairs for too long. Those rickety pieces of plastic weren’t meant for men my size.
“Brother.” Ruin nodded his head in greeting, stopping dead in front of me.
It was a strange thing, hearing that word. I didn’t say anything, though. I just continued to stare at the pair of them.
If they had anything to do with what had happened in that cafe, I would never forgive them. If they wanted war, then I would give it to them. I was many things, but I drew the line at women and children, and I had always thought the Black Aces did as well.
“Gent?” Truth stepped around Ruin, reaching to clasp my arm and I moved away without thinking about it. “What happened?”
Levelling my eyes at him, I studied him unblinking. He did look genuinely puzzled, but I had to know the truth. “Did you have something to do with this?” I looked between the two of them, trying to gauge their reaction.
“We don’t even know what this is, Gent.” Ruin made a motion to encompass the narrow hospital corridor.
The way he said it and the almost flippant way he looked around caused something to shift inside of me. Anger bubbled up. I took a step forward, and it was only Truth stepping in front of me that stopped me in my tracks.
“Did you shoot up the cafe? There were women and kids there, man.” I shook my head, turning away from him in disgust. I didn’t want to believe it was them, but I had to ask.
“Anyone hurt?” Ruin’s eyes drifted past me and settled on the closed door I was guarding. His eyes narrowed. “Gemma, ok?”
I didn’t like the way he was looking at the door. Maybe it was my imagination and that after a year of running and protecting her, I was just paranoid.
“Gent, we had nothing to do with it.”
There wasn’t a hint of a lie in Truth’s voice. But then again he was called Truth for a reason. As far as I knew, he had never lied to me.
Why would he start now?
The tension in my shoulders eased slightly. I had known, deep down. Like really deep, deep down.
“You believe him but not me?” There was a note of joking in Ruin’s voice.
“Truth doesn’t lie, you, on the other hand…” I laughed, and they chuckled right alongside me. The mood shifted, became lighter.
It was almost like old times, almost. Just three brothers having a laugh.
“Avery has knocked that out of him for the most part.”
Truth’s words made me smile. Not because I was particularly close to Avery, but because it was nice to hear that Ruin hadn’t fucked things up with her yet.
“How is Avery? And Cali?” The last I had heard, Cali and Truth had gotten engaged. Had they tied the knot yet? “Has she made an honest woman out of you yet?”
Throwing back his head, Truth laughed, a great booming sound that echoed off the walls. “She wants to, but I keep telling her no.”
“Does she fuck.” Ruin shook his head. “He keeps trying to set a date, and she’s having none of it. And Avery and Parker are great. They keep me grounded, you know?”
My eyes drifted to that closed door. Yeah, I did know. I knew exactly what he was talking about.
Ruin’s eyes narrowed as they followed mine. “Did Gem get hurt today, Gent?”
For a second, I paused.
I had to decide whether to tell them or not. And honestly, it was a no brainer. The Black Aces had always had my back. If they said that they hadn’t tried to kill us, I had to believe them. We would need their help. Gemma would need their protection.
