“Oh, I’m going to like you.” General smirks as he takes a step forward and grasps her uninjured arm.
“Oh hell no. Take your hands off me.” She pulls away, but that just makes General laugh. And because we’re all assholes and don’t know the truth of anything yet, we join in. We would never hurt someone undeserving, but it doesn’t mean we won’t scare them a bit while we figure shit out.
I hear the slamming of the club door behind me but don’t turn to look. The unknown is in front of me, and I know my back is protected by every brother in here.
I hear a cry of alarm and only then turn to see Mama Bear’s eyes go wide as she reaches out for Oliver, who runs into our group. He grabs General’s other arm and starts yanking at it.
“Let Milly go!” he shouts.
If the guys are anything like me, they’re surprised as shit that a kid would run in to help when he’s outsized and outnumbered. That’s why I’m laughing in disbelief with a smile wide on my face, matching my brothers.
That is till I see him let go of General’s arm and pull a gun out of my brother’s waistband, cock it, and aim it right at our club’s doc. Everything goes quiet, everyone still. No one so much as breathes.
“Let Milly go.” The kid’s not moving; he’s as steady as they come, clueing us all in that he’s held a gun before. Even his stance is perfect, with his aim high to hit the biggest part on General to take him out.
“Ollie, baby, I’m okay. It’s okay.”
Milly’s words have me glancing at her. I can see even she’s worried about him holding the gun. It’s a small thing, but it helps me not hate her at this moment. No child should know how to hold a gun properly. It speaks to a shitty upbringing, something the boys and I try to fix on the regular with the club’s side focuses when we learn about things. We can’t save everyone, but we never walk away if we see an issue. And this right here is an issue.
And we ain’t about to walk away from this once it’s over. At least I’m not.
“I said, let her go.” He doesn’t back down till General drops his hand. From the look on his face, I think our club doc forgot he was even still holding her.
“Drop the gun, kid. No one here is going to hurt you or your ma.” General’s hands are up, showing that he’s not about to start something. He glances at me and Chains, and we both know what he’s asking in that look.
Not to move. Not to take over. To let this play out. General might be our resident doctor, but he took an oath to do no harm. And he doesn’t. He fixes up people we fuck up, or he gives them something to make them more relaxed and talkative, but that’s about it. Guy’s a fucking teddy bear, not that you would get that from his looks. He’s one of the brothers with more tats than skin. He’s bulky but fit, and I’ve heard more than one club vamp say they get wet from the salt-and-pepper look in his beard. I guess if you’re into a daddy look, he fits that bill—whatever that means. It’s a common thing said around both him and Law.
“Ollie.” Her tone has changed. She’s not shocked anymore by the gun, or maybe she’s just trying a different tactic. Her attitude is back, even if it’s curbed a bit. “Put the gun down. They aren’t going to hurt you.”
“But they hurtyou.” He gestures with the gun a bit, and she looks down at the blood dripping from her arm.
We really need to get her fixed up before Law sees the blood on the floor. That’ll piss him off. We don’t have many rules about things, but one we do have is that no one bleeds by the bar. It’s a mess to clean up and kills the mood.
“Not us,” I say and draw the kid’s attention.
His eyeswiden, and I know he remembers me from before. Something about my knife set him off, and I hope to shit I didn’t just fuck things up more for us by making myself known.
“They sa—” She clears her throat as her jaw clenches a second more before she finishes. “They saved me. They took out the one who did this.” Her body deflates, as if saying the words put a drain on her more than anything. “We don’t have to worry about them. They just want answers.”
I glance at everyone I can see in this place without moving. I’ve still got my back to the door, but I bet Mama Bear and the cubs are there. Maybe even a few brothers who came in with them. I know Law ain’t around, as he’s not the type to be quiet when someone is threatening his family, kid or no kid. He would have drawn the attention and held it, using himself as the martyr if necessary. General still has his hands up. Casper and Chains don’t, but they do have their hands where anyone can see they aren’t making a grab for a weapon, just like me.
It takes another beat before the kid lowers the gun, and we all take a solid breath. “Okay. Here you go.” He hands it back to General without a second glance at him, his focus solely on Milly. “Who’s the one who helped?”
A small smile lights up her face, making her look beautiful, because it’s genuine, even if it’s only meant for her kid. She points to me before casting a quick look in my direction.
He turns and holds out his hand. I take it on instinct.
“Thanks. I owe you one.” He says it like he’s thirty, not ten or however old he is.
I lookat the boys as I shake the kid’s hand. They’re all as shocked by everything as I am, so I just return my attention to Ollie and nod.
“No problem, kid.”
“Coast clear?” King asks, and I look back to see him holding Mama Bear in his arms. Atom’s at the door, but it’s mostly closed with him standing half in and out of the place, no doubt holding back those wanting in.
I look back at the kid and see he’s moved back to Milly, giving her a side hug, before I nod.
Casper calls it. “Yeah, all clear.”
