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“You’re … defensive.”
“Aria is willing to take those two dogs. That’s a good thing.”
“And don’t you see how reckless that is? She doesn’t know their history. We have to make sure people are prepared in case of triggers. I’m not being a dick here.”
“You could have fooled me.”
Bull rolled his eyes. “Why does everything have to be a fight with you?”
“Because you do everything to make my life hard, that’s why.”
Bull slammed his chair back. “For once in your life, if you would stop acting like everything is a joke or a game, you might see that this is serious. Those dogs were trained to kill.”
“Each other.”
“And you don’t think that same aggression can be used to turn against a person? Trust me, it can. I’m protecting her because with how you’re doing, you don’t fucking get it.”
“I would never put Aria in danger. She’s a good person and I know she can help those dogs. You don’t know her. Don’t you ever fucking accuse me of trying to hurt her.” He wanted to kill Bull. He had to get away.
“Always the fucking same, Grant. Walking away, running away, hiding. What is it? Responsibility so fucking hard for you?”
Grant spun around, shoving the chair into the desk. He heard it crack but he didn’t care. “Don’t assume to know shit about me, Bull. We may be brothers, bound together by fucking blood, but you don’t know me. You, or the club.”
“What is there to know?” Bull asked. “Come on, tell me what I’m supposed to know. You never come to work. You always do whatever the fuck you want. Do you want me to forget that you wanted to get in with the Cartel over a year ago? How you wanted me to make the club more deeply involved?”
Yes, he did remember. Grant hadn’t thought about the shit he was saying. He’d just spoken, without thought.
“If it was left to you, Grant, the whole club would be swallowed up by the Cartel. They would be deep in the roots of this town, and your precious Aria would probably be a whore for them, or possibly even dead.”
Grant stared at his brother.
“Have you never fucked up in your life, Bull?” he asked.
Bull frowned.
He’d surprised him. Good. Grant liked that. Usually, he would have charged at Bull, started a fight, been the same old fighting brothers, but not this time. Something was different for Grant. He didn’t know if it was Aria or the shit he’d just seen, but he looked at his brother and shook his head.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Bull asked.
“Forget about it. It doesn’t matter.” He never told Bull about anything that happened. He headed toward the door and Wanda followed him, stopping as he did. “I will be there with Aria. I’m not trespassing on club land, but I won’t allow you to scare her either.”
“Grant!”
His brother started to call his name, but Grant had heard enough. He kept walking.
****
“I will not take no for an answer, Aria. You will come to family Thanksgiving. Your brother has arranged it all.”
“Mom, he’s not my brother, and have you ever thought that I might have stuff to do?”
“Honey, you never have stuff to do. Stop being a horrible person. You will come to the restaurant. You will not embarrass us, and you will be part of this family.”
Aria kept playing the same conversation over in her mind. She’d been on break, sitting in her car eating her salad when her mother had called. She lifted up and panted, aware of Jase putting pressure on her feet as she did the sit-ups. They were killing her sides but she did a rep of ten more before collapsing to the mat.
“Good work.” Jase patted her knee and got to his feet. Unlike the last two visits, this time he held a clipboard in his hands. “I want to take some measurements from you before we continue.”
She wrinkled her nose but didn’t complain. Perspiration covered her whole body and she moved over to the weighing scales and stepped on. Nibbling her lip, Jase took note and jotted it down in his book.
