Texas Tornado (Freebirds Book 5) (12 page)

The man stopped trying to get up instantly, and went down, holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

“What the fuck are you doing with Scope?” Sebastian, my evil brother who hadn’t called me in weeks, snarled right back.

My arm started throbbing, and I was near tears when I replied. “What the fuck do you care?”

Sebastian’s demeanor changed in a flash, and he was up and leaning over the desk in concern when he noticed me cradling the cast to my chest.

“Why are you in a cast?” He asked.

I ignored him to turn around and bury my face against James’ bare chest. Sweat slicked against my cheek, but I figured it didn’t really matter since my tears were now mingling with his sweat. My shoulders shook with each sob that was released from my body, making James gather me closer to him, and start whispering into my hair.

“Stop crying, you’re breaking my heart.” He murmured.

“My arm hurts.” I groaned.

“You got any Tylenol?” James rumbled.

I assumed someone handed him something, because he moved his arm from around my shoulders, making the muscles in his chest bunch and relax. The sound of pills being tapped out of a bottle had me turning and raising my hand to take the medication.

Dropping them into my hand, I threw them into my mouth and swallowed them dry, gagging only once.

Disgusting.

“I’m waiting.” Sebastian grated.

My eyes turned to him, and my eyes went down his body, cataloging what I was seeing. His hair was the normal black that I was used to, but now it was a bit longer, not the usual military shortness he was so anal about. His t-shirt was the usual black, jeans the usual faded, and boots the usual motorcycle ones. The only thing different?

That would be the leather vest he was wearing.
A cut
. Although he’d worn it before, it was never with me, and never in eyesight. I’d seen him and dad wearing theirs, but never when they could help it. When I did see it, it was because I was snooping, or peeking, or sneaking around somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.

Nine months ago when I’d found out about Sam from Sebastian, I’d started to really pay more attention. Things that had only been a passing thought, now turned into more than nagging curiosity. The one and only time I’d been able to get an up close and personal look at his vest, no cut, was when Sebastian had gone skinny-dipping with Lilly Rose Tanner two years ago.

I’d been at my mother’s house, taking care of her while she had the flu, and had just come over to Sebastian’s to see if I could borrow a humidifier that I’d left at his place. Seeing that he was otherwise occupied, I’d pawed through his clothes that were laying on the picnic table, and saw it laying there.

Curiosity being the bane of my existence, I picked it up, studying it and trying to figure out why he never let me see it. I knew he had it on. Most of the time he’d cover it up with a sweatshirt, or a flannel long sleeved shirt.

“What are you staring at?” Sebastian growled.

James’ body tensed at the tone Sebastian had just used, and I reacted quickly, trying to diffuse the situation before my brother got his ass kicked. “What do you care what I look at?”

Sebastian’s scowl went from who I now realized was James, to me. “I wasn’t talking to you. Why the attitude, June?”

I gritted my teeth at the use of my middle name. My dad and him were the only ones who ever called me that, and it drove me fucking nuts. “Well, if I have to tell you, then it obviously won’t matter to you what I have to say, because it’s apparent to me you don’t really care.”

If that wasn’t a “woman answer,” I didn’t know what was. However, I couldn’t help it, that’s the way I felt. He hadn’t answered any of my calls, texts, emails, or even my mail I’d sent the snail mail route. I was hurt, and sad. I’d needed him, and he wasn’t there.

“You know I love you, June. Don’t act like that.” He sighed.

“Act like what? That I’m hurt? I haven’t heard from you. I haven’t seen my nephew in over eight months. You just drop me like a hot potato when dad dropped me off. I’ve needed you, and you weren’t there. You’ve always been there, and then suddenly you’re just gone. No explanations, no nothing.” I hadn’t realized I was crying until James wiped the tears from my eyes with the palm of his hand, and wrapped me up tighter.

The door to the room closed quietly behind us, and I noticed that we were alone now, the three of us. Sebastian had stood, but wasn’t coming any closer. Although, that might have had something to do with the glare James was throwing him.

“Fuck,” James growled. “You Mackenzie brothers sure know how to hurt your sister.”

“What?” Sebastian barked.

“What, what?” James asked with a raised brow.

“What are you talking about? What did Cash do to hurt June?” Sebastian asked, tension radiating from his pores.

“Cash is Sam, in case you’re wondering. June is me. They call everyone by their middle names. Except for Sebastian. He won’t go by his middle name.” I said, smiling with glee.

“Why?” James asked, obviously intrigued by the smile that had erased the tears from my eyes.

“Don’t you dare, June.” Sebastian growled.

I eyed him and thought about how hurt I was. Still was.

I knew he wouldn’t be happy with me, and probably wouldn’t speak to me for weeks. However, I figured, so what? The man hasn’t spoken to me in seven months, what were three weeks?

“Do what?” I asked, fluttering my eyes at my big brother. “Tell James that your middle name is Sue?”

Sebastian reached out for me in the next instant, but James suddenly thrust his body in between Sebastian’s and my own, barricading Sebastian from me by using his own body.

“What the hell? Your parents in love with Johnny Cash or something?” James asked after Sebastian backed off, and returned to the other side of the desk.

I watched the calculation in Sebastian’s eyes. How his eyes flicked from me to James, wondering what the connection was and why he was protecting me. Honestly, I’d like to know the last one myself.

“My father is, what you could say, a fan.” Sebastian explained reluctantly.

“Daddy goes by his middle name, too.” I supplied.

James eyes focused on mine, and a smile turned up the corner of his lips, before it disappeared when he focused on something towards the side of my face. His hand rose, and the pad of his thumb traced the apple of my cheek, and I winced.

“Fuck! What the hell?” I asked, raising my hand up to cup my cheek.

“Bruised.” He explained, and then his glare turned from the swelling on my cheek to Sebastian. “What the fuck were you thinking letting that happen to your sister?”

Sebastian held his hands up. “I didn’t know my sister was here. Nor did I know what was happening until it’d already happened. My man was just watching over my back.” He explained.

He hated explaining. The tick in his jaw highlighted that fact, and I had a feeling that James somehow knew it.

“Well maybe if you paid attention to your sister a little more instead of going out of your way to ignore her, you’d know more. That, or pick better people to watch you’re back. She was a defenseless woman. You don’t treat women like that. She could’ve been anyone; been there for anything. Look, I have one more fight tonight. Y’all take that time to figure your shit out. And if you hurt her, I’ll kill you. You’ll never see it coming.”

With that succinctly put statement, he left.

“Well, the man is sure hot for you. Did he fuck you yet?” Sebastian snapped.

My eyes went from the empty doorway to Sebastian’s hate filled face.

He had some massive chip on his shoulder, and I sure wasn’t going to stand here and let him berate me for something I’d never even done. I didn’t even know why he was mad. Hell, I never said one single word about the trashy women he saw. Not one single word about the hoe bag of a woman he got pregnant.

Then I berated myself, because that hoe bag, Lindsey, was dead. She couldn’t defend her actions anymore, and I had no room to talk. I didn’t have the best track record when it came to men, and I’m sure it bothered Sebastian that I was seeing someone, and he didn’t even get to run a background check on the man.

“Well?” Sebastian hissed when I took too long to answer.

“Go fuck yourself.” I said before turning and following the sounds of cheering.

James was fighting again, except this time it was the bear-man I’d seen fucking that woman earlier. He was easily twice the size of James length and width wise. His hair was a wild mass of snarls around his head, and his beard was tamed by a ponytail holder. It reached down to his chest, and I couldn’t help but think that was a bad idea to give someone a ‘handhold’ when it came to a fight, but who was I to say anything?

I’d been taken down earlier by some man, and I had no ability to fight back. Hell, I didn’t even know how to fight back, other than throwing a punch when they were distracted. I’d always had my brother there to do it for me. Now, I wasn’t sure what I had.

Chapter 10

Are you going to do something, or just stand there and bleed?

-Tombstone

James

Peter’s (Portal to the crowd) fist flew past my head like a fucking wrecking ball, and I pivoted, narrowly dodging his other fist by millimeters. Motherfucker, he was quick. Even quicker than the last time we’d fought. The kid was really learning how to fight. Not that he’d win. I’d been doing this since I was fifteen.

When I was a kid, I had a lot of pent up aggression. With no father to tell me how to channel it, I started punching an old punching bag that Max’s father had in his tool shed. Not one to be outdone, Max had started, too. Then the fights started happening.

Briggs, my other best friend, discovered an underground fight club of sorts one weekend when he’d gone to Shreveport, Louisiana to visit his grandparents. It wasn’t until after Briggs’ death, however, that I finally worked up the courage to start fighting.

Briggs, Max, and I met in middle school during JV football tryouts. We bonded so well because all of us fucking sucked at playing football. We never saw the point of it. We all had a problem with authority, and having football coaches screaming at you because you dropped the football wasn’t something that had interested us at the time.

So, we became fast friends, doing anything and everything together. That all ended one night when Briggs was in a drunk driving accident.

On our way home from mudding in the Tally Bottoms, Briggs had just pulled onto Highway 31 when a drunk driver hit him head on. The man had been driving in the wrong direction. Being that Highway 31 was a large highway, Briggs never thought to look the other way as he merged into traffic. That was the biggest mistake of his life.

Max and I had watched in horror as the two cars collided. The drunk went from eighty miles an hour to nothing in just a few short horror-filled seconds. Briggs’ car folded like a motherfucking accordion. Much the way my face was about to, if I didn’t start paying attention to the fight.

Shaking off any residual wraiths, I faked a right jab and swung my left in an uppercut. My fist met Peter’s jaw on a brutal upward swing, and he dropped to the floor like a stone.

Not even panting, I backed away from the fallen man, and stopped just to the edge of the ring, waiting. The unofficial referee dropped to his knee beside Peter and did the count, declaring me the winner by a knock out.

My rage somewhat appeased by the two fights, I turned my head to check on Shiloh. Much the same as earlier, I couldn’t find her. However, this time I wasn’t scared shitless. I knew her brother wouldn’t let anything happen to her now that he knew she was there.

I hadn’t realized that ownership of Fields of Punishment had transferred hands. Which was very sloppy of me. Sloppy got people killed, and I had a girl that depended on me to live. I would never let her down.

“Who’s ready for
Shiva
!” The Announcer roared, snapping me out of my mental assault of my dumbness.

The announcer reached his desired effect, and the crowd roared at the name. A small snort came from my opposite side, and I turned, and looked down to see Shiloh sitting on a folding metal chair just behind where I was standing.

“What?” I semi-yelled at her.

Before she could reply, I finally heard the whispers.

‘
Oh, my God! Shiva’s fighting?
’

‘Holy crap, Shiva never fights.’

“Shiva’s fucking hot. I can’t believe the VP of The Dixie Wardens MC is fighting. Scope’s gonna get his ass kicked.’

The whispers continued, and I finally looked to Shiloh.

“Who the fuck is Shiva?” I asked.

“
That
,” she laughed. “Would be my big brother.”

I started to sing ‘Joy to the world’ in my head. Why? I don’t know. I sing Christmas songs when I’m happy, and right then, I was over the fucking moon. I’ve wanted to kick that little fucker’s ass for over two weeks now. Sam wasn’t the only brother she’d been upset with, and anyone that made a woman like Shiloh cry was ‘cruisin’ for a brusin’’ like my lovely sister always says.

Rubbing my hands together in glee, I stepped back into the ring.

Sebastian made his appearance moments later, in jeans only, just like me.

“No lower body.” Sebastian declared.

“Okay.” I agreed outwardly. However, inwardly I said, ‘Yeah, right.’

“You fucked her yet?” Sebastian growled.

I didn’t reply, nor did I move. Which would’ve been what he wanted. For some reason, I’d pissed him off, and what better way to retaliate than a fight in his own establishment. Fuck me up, get his revenge against something I’d done, and make himself look good in front of his club. Win-win for everybody.

But me, however.

“Not yet. Soon, though. Maybe tonight.”

He didn’t react either, but the telltale twitch at the corner of his left eye gave away his irritation.

“My sister sucks at picking out men. She has a track record a mile long of assholes that I had to take care of. Figure I’ll just get rid of you now, and save myself the trouble later.”

“That right?” I asked him. “Where have you been for the last seven months if you protect her so much?”