Chapter Two


"It didn't have to go like this man, you really let me down," Gunner shook his head as he gripped a hammer beside him. His dark green eyes slid to the man strapped down to a chair. They were in the club's second plot of land where the... less savory things were designated.

    The man sitting in a mess of sweat, tears, and blood was Antonio Johnson. He was a nobody in town, lingering in places where he shouldn't be and because he was a wannabe cop and a snitch. Gunner knew he was exactly the man to go to for information.

    "Gunner- Gunner please... I'm sorry I-"

    "You're sorry? You owed me a favor for getting that armed robbery shit off your record before your cop buddies found out about it. I try to get a hold of you to cash in on my generosity and I find you trying to skip town? Shameful. I'm hurt honestly."

    Antonio shook his head quickly, his face was swollen and bloodied already. He'd been there since the morning. He should be breaking soon enough.

    "Wasn't runnin'- I wasn't. I swear, Gun!"

    Gunner hummed, moving his head side to side in thought. "Nah... I don't believe you. If you had to pick, which knee is your personal favorite?"

He waved the hammer towards Anthony's legs. "No! No! Wh-What do you want to know again? I'm- I'm sorry I can't think..."

    Gunner's face hardened as he leaned his hands against the arms of the chair.

"Five days ago, on 6th street, two of my guys were ambushed. You're going to tell me who exactly did it, because I think I've got a fucking idea," he snarled lowly as he stared down at the pathetic excuse of a man.

Antonio couldn't even meet the fierce gaze, more concerned that Gunner had dropped the jovial act. Slowly, Gunner pressed the claw of the hammer against Antonio's kneecap. "You didn't give me a favorite. Guess I'll have to choose."

    "Wait! Wait! Captain Richards told some rookie to stir some shit up with you guys! That's all I know! They were talkin' about it at the bar! I didn't think it was anything but then I heard about the shootings, I'm sorry," Antonio whimpered, wretched with anxiety.

    "Thanks for the confirmation, buddy. I'm gonna go with the left, yeah?"

    Gunner grinned as he slammed the claw down underneath Anthony's kneecap, popping it off grotesquely. Standing up, Gunner listened to the screams and cries go on. He waved his hand, spurring him to go on with a chuckle.

    "Yeah, keep it up," he threw the weapon away. "Shouldn't have taken so long, Ant. You know I didn't want to have to do that. We'll be in touch. You know my boys really wanted to end things for you. Just be lucky you're walking—well, limping away I suppose. Keep that in mind."

    The biker president opened the door, locking the injured man inside on the way out. Coincidentally, Jude passed him. As his vice president, Jude had been sufficient and eager to fill his role. It surprised the rest of the club, but he continued to impress them.

    "Yo," Gunner stopped him in his path with a hand on his chest.

"Make sure this asshole gets shipped out by tonight. He confirmed what we figured with the dumbass cops organizing the shooting. Supervise the prospects while they do it, make sure he won't talk. Not that I think he will," Gunner shrugged as he rolled his shoulder. He walked past Jude to grab his jacket, getting ready to leave.

    "Alright... Where are ya headed? Usually you stay for the ship outs?"

    The president didn't glance back as he grabbed his keys, "To the pub."

    Jude suddenly barked out a laugh, "Oh really? Why am I not surprised, did they change the menu or is there another reason you're there every other day now? I might have to check it out myself."

    "You stay the fuck outta there," Gunner pointed at the younger man. Jude still just laughed loudly.

    "I'm not playin' man, stay out of there. I'll fuck you up."

    Jude grinned, holding his hands up and standing down. "Alright, go see the girl you can't get a word out to even after a fucking week. Maybe today will be your day, go get 'em champ." 

He couldn't hide it from anyone. Liliana had captured his attention fully since he'd first seen her.

    "Fuck you," Gunner flipped him off over his shoulder as he made his way out.

By the time Gunner walked into the local pub, he had assured himself that he would talk to Lily this time. He knew she was working today by now, though he was reluctant to admit that he knew her schedule.

He had to be sure he got there on time because she was in and out quick. She didn't linger around like the other waitresses.

He walked in and sat in her section, but he clammed up as soon as she came over with her usual grin at his familiar face.

"Hey Gunner," she greeted softly as her kind eyes met him. She paused, they stared at one another. Over the past week, she'd seemed to have gotten used to this routine by now. There hadn't been any repeats of that first night with the officer, so far.

"Ah- well... damnit," he hissed and sank back into his seat. Liliana patted his shoulder gingerly. Gunner's eyes slid to her quickly, his stomach flipping at the small sign of affection from the pretty girl. And his reaction only made embarrassment crawl up his chest.

What had he become?

He rubbed both his hands over his face, somewhat trying to cover the flush that he could on his cheeks.

"Beer and the club sandwich you usually get?" Lily asked with a pitying look on her face.

Luckily, her brown skin could hide her own blush, seeing Gunner had become the highlight of her shifts now. Even just for the little confidence boost he gave her that got a pep to her step after they interacted.

Without uncovering his face, he nodded. "Thank you," he managed to rasp.

And now he'd been sat sipping on a glass of water next to his empty beer that Lily has been refilling for about an hour. He refused to get out of his seat until his charming and flirtatious skill set came rushing back to him. Gunner was waiting patiently for his ability to sweep that damn woman off her feet.

It was on its way, he swore.

But while he waited, he watched her move around with the grace any woman—or any person really—would die for. She gave all of her customers that same beautiful smile they probably didn't even deserve to be seeing.

The person Lily was serving at the moment definitely didn't deserve it. An old man sitting by himself was glaring up at the waitress. Lily's smile didn't falter but Gunner could see the frustration seeping into her eyes.

"Sir, I'm sorry that the sandwich wasn't quite right, I could take it back again if you'd like."

"You've taken the damn dish back once already. Maybe you could've gotten it right the first time."

Except when Lily brought out the order he wanted, he was the one who declared that it was wrong. The old man with his swiss cheese brain had forgotten it was exactly what he ordered in the first place.

Lily inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly, but didn't once drop the smile from her face. But it was becoming more strained, slowly but surely. Gunner watched with narrowed eyes from the side, gripping the sides of the table as his body twitched to step in.

"Please don't raise your voice sir, I'll take it back for you and we'll get this all sorted away. Thank you for being patient."

"Maybe if you used your little goddamn brain, I wouldn't have to be so patient. Honestly, you're the worst waitress this poor establishment has ever seen. It's disrespectful, this pub is a town staple. How do you young folk even function. You've obviously never had to work a day in your life."

The old man continued to murmur about how 'she probably used her looks to get this far' and that was when Lily snatched his plate and stormed into the back. Everyone could hear the clatter of the plate she most likely dropped somewhere. The old man looked shocked at her attitude.

From where Lily stormed off, the owner of the pub came out quickly. Her name was Gale. She'd been around for years, and she knew the town dynamic well.

Gunner had stood up already, exhaling as if he was tired. With a dramatic roll of his eyes, he untucked the handgun from the back of his jeans. The entire diner fell silent for a moment, but with a single look from him the chatter started back up again.

Gale wrung her hands together, probably hoping she wouldn't have to mop blood again.

The old man was taken aback when Gunner sat down in a heap across from him at the table. Casually, he laid his hand down with the gun in his firm grasp. Pointed right at the man who'd been rude to Liliana.

The old man's eyes widened and he immediately went to leave.

"Sit down."

He sat down.

"Don't cause a scene. It'd just waste more of my time," Gunner leaned back in his chair lazily. "I'm sure you're a smart man with some survival instinct. Do you know who I am?"

Slowly, the old man nodded. "Good, that speeds things along. I need you to understand something real simple... You don't talk to these nice ladies like that, yeah? Especially, not fucking her. I'll shoot you in your goddamn face and nobody here would even care."

The older man was trembling, the smugness previously on his face was gone. Once he began nodding enthusiastically, the grin returned to Gunner's face.

"Hey, Gale?" Gunner called without looking away from the man's scared gaze.

"Yeah, Gunner?" she answered back immediately.

"I don't wanna see this guy here again. I don't think he's up to our standards here in this town. Especially not a 'town staple'," Gunner rasped cockily.

"He won't be allowed here again, Gunner." The pub owner swallowed hard. It wasn't often any of the civilians saw him like this.

"Yer gonna leave a nice tip for the pretty girl who was a lot nicer than I am, yeah? Ya got me?"

The old man nodded quickly, reaching for his wallet. Gunner smirked and stood to his full, towering height.

Accidentally, he just so happened to knock over the man's coffee into his lap before walking off towards where Lily had retreated to. With the adrenaline in his veins, his footsteps walking towards her were determined and they didn't falter once. He made his way over to where he knew the small break room was.

He heard her before he had walked in. "You sound so happy," she cooed softly into what he could assume to be her phone. "I'll be home soon, baby."

The term of endearment and tenderness in her voice struck Gunner deeply. He hadn't considered if she was in a relationship. Anybody would be crazy not to claim her as soon as possible, so when he didn't hear anything about his hanging around her, he just assumed she was single. He sneered a bit. He wouldn't let that deter him. If she didn't have a ring on her finger then she was his to take.

Swallowing down a frustrated growl, he knocked against the doorframe as he walked in. He pushed a smirk on his face as she had just hung up the phone.

"Ya alright?" His voice had softened from just a few seconds ago, but still she flinched in surprise. "That guy was a real piece of work..."

The waitress visibly tensed, but still she shot him a closed lip smile, "Yeah... but it's part of the gig. It's real glamorous as you can tell." She waved her hands around to the rundown break room they stood in.

Tentatively, Gunner stepped further inside. He sat down at the table across from her. Liliana watched him closely.

His nerves creeped back up. He was now closer to her than he'd ever been, and she smelled real fucking good. He forced the nerves down.

"Yer a hard worker," he observed.

Lily hummed. "Thank you... it's not all that bad. I met some good people." Her voice was soft as she kept her gaze on his chest rather than his eyes.

"And honestly sometimes it's a break from stress at home," Lily murmured, more to herself as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. As she did, he noticed how tired her eyes looked. On the back of her hand were also pen marks. Scribbles and swirls that looked childish and rudimentary. His brow furrowed a bit, wondering when she had the time to draw on herself.

Gunner sucked on his teeth to avoid any awkward silence.

"Um- Gale... she uh mentioned you have a ten-minute break to cool off."

No, she didn't. But as long as she was talking to him there wouldn't be a problem.

"Ooh, a whole ten minutes," Liliana snorted. "She's sweet... Do you know her since you're so big in town?" She finally met his eyes.

"Oh, so you've heard of me and my stellar reputation, hm?" Gunner raised a brow at her. "But to answer your question: yes. We help her out every once and a while. She's hospitable."

"To answer your question: yes, I have heard about your reputation. You've got quite the resume, Gunner, I'll tell you what." He saw how her eyes darted down, as if hesitant to meet his gaze at the reminder of what he was.

A pang struck his chest. Usually, the whole big and bad thing reeled chicks in like a magnet. Here he couldn't tell if it was helping him or hurting him.

"Yet, here ya are sitting right next to me. That's risky business, you know."

Gunner tried to lighten the mood as he ducked his head to meet her eye. Luckily, he heard her huff a quiet laugh.

"Oh really? I should change my seat then," Lily laughed to herself. "Although, you sat next to me first. And you don't know my reputation." She gave him a teasing look as she leaned back in her own seat. Finally, she relaxed a bit.

The curiosity was written all over Gunner's face now.

He waved his hand, as if to say go on. "Please do tell, the suspense is killing me."

"I'm just fuckin' with you. There's no rep. I'm boring, really, which is why I can't quite figure out why you get so nervous. I don't bite, I promise."

Busted. Gunner's face now went pink as the blush crawled up his neck. He rubbed the back of it as his eyes dropped down to the floor.

"Ya noticed that, huh?"

"I think half the town did."

"Damn. I'm so fuckin' sorry, sweetheart." He rubbed his face to try and remove the flush from it. Liliana's brows furrowed with sympathy, and she reached over and patted his knee.

"Don't be sorry, really. I think it's sweet. It's been the highlight of my shifts so far. You're my best tipper," she said, trying to reassure him.

"No, it's creepy is what it is. I didn't wanna make ya uncomfortable and the words they- they just got stuck every time I tried to say 'em. I'm not a douchebag I swear. I-I just-"

"Gunner!" Lily giggled. The biker's eyes shot up, brightening at the sound. "You haven't been creepy. Or a douchebag. You're just my customer who I enjoy seeing sitting in my section. It's no big deal."

Except Gunner didn't just want to be her customer she saw sitting in a booth every other day. And that was the problem.

He opened his mouth to try to salvage the conversation, flirt with her, get her interested in him, anything. But he was cut off by Gale popping her head in, a bit flustered.

"Hey honey... I'm sorry about that asshole. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay Gale. You need some help out there? Is the rush early?"

Reluctantly after seeing the scowl on Gunner's face at the interruption, Gale nodded at Liliana.

"I'll be right out," the waitress assured as she stood from her seat.

Gale thanked her and rushed back onto the floor.

A warm hand pressed to his shoulder hesitantly, Gunner forced himself to keep it together at the small gesture. She retracted it after a moment.

"Thank you for checking in on me, I really appreciate it, Gunner. Now let's just hope this asshole is gone."

"He won't bother you," Gunner shook his head. Their eyes met, his dark green to her ochre brown ones. Lily nibbled on her pouty bottom lip, the first sign of nerves bubbled within her as he gazed at her.

Meekly, she once again reached and gave him a quick squeeze to his shoulder in appreciation. Lily gave him one more parting grin as she dragged her hand away slowly on her walk out.

Gunner brought his hand to his mouth, biting his knuckle with a muffled groan. His other hand came to his tousled dirty blonde hair, gripping it.

"Fuuck me," he hissed. "How is she even real?" Gunner whispered to himself incredulously before standing up and making a quick exit with her usual generous tip left on his table.

"Bye, Gunner," she called from behind the bar.

"Bye, Lily," he wheezed out as he pushed the door open. As the chime went off, her quiet giggles floated to him on his way out. His heart thudding in his ear almost overpowered the melodious sound.

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