Judd and Vaughn smiled while Cooper glanced at Tucker who was getting antsy.
“There are two kinds of killings. Personal and business. Killing is easy when it’s personal. The business stuff like with Corbin is trickier. Messing with my family makes me homicidal. Messing with my business makes me cranky. Guys like those two evil fucks,” he said gesturing at Judd and Vaughn who winked, “can kill without feeling shit. You aren’t them. You’re like me. So I suggest you kill as if he’s the guy who messed with your woman. Always works for me.”
I looked at Corbin giggling at an unknown joke. He was no one to me. His death wouldn’t be a loss to the world, but I still paused. The gun didn’t feel heavy in my hand like I would have imagined. I felt no fear or even nervous with everyone watching me. Some people could coldly take a life and others couldn’t. I’d always wondered which kind of person I was. Just to be safe, I imagined the shaggy stoner was the evil fuck Sugar Bum.
Corbin’s last word was dude.
After I pulled the trigger, nothing really changed. Corbin stopped breathing, but that was it. I expected the sky to darken and an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Had I just sold my soul to the devil?
While Vaughn, Judd, and Tucker dragged Corbin’s body wrapped in a tarp, I walked with Cooper.
“I did my first kill when I was seventeen,” Cooper said, looking up at the still circling hawk. “A perverted little flasher freak who sold meth for us. He was a funny piece of shit and I’d known him for years. Part of me felt bad for killing him. When I thought about him being a pervert, killing him wasn’t so bad. Of course, we were killing him because he was stealing from the club. That’s not the point. You think about whatever you need to think about to make the shit happen.”
“So what happens now?”
“They’ll dump him in a shallow grave. The crap Tucker’s carrying is lye. It’ll clean up a lot of the evidence. The guys will do a clean on the cabin. Vaughn and Judd do this shit a lot. That’s their job in the club. For you, I only expect loyalty. I’m not interested in your business. If I have a problem, it’s your problem. Club goes both ways. Get it?”
“Yeah. I get it.”
After watching Vaughn and Judd dump the body and cover it with lye, I followed Cooper back to the cabin.
“How are things going with Winnie?” he asked as we waited for the others to finish.
“Good. We’re moving into one of the houses I’ve remodeled. I’m planning to propose too.”
“Did you ask Tad for permission?”
Frowning, I shook my head.
“Give the guy a break. You show up, bang his daughter, steal her away, and don’t even fake like his opinion matters. You’re lucky he doesn’t beat you with a stick just for the hell of it.”
My frown darkened then I remembered Cooper was having a baby girl soon.
“I’ll ask Tad before I propose.”
Cooper smiled. “You feel weird yet? Pulling the trigger is easy, but the stuff afterwards will bother you.”
“I’ll be honest, Cooper. If you wanted me to kill a kid or a woman, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’m not hardcore and you shouldn’t think what I did proved I was. Corbin was a dead man walking. Someone was killing him. It just happened to be me.”
Studying me, Cooper smiled. “I don’t want blood thirsty freaks, you know? A lot of clubs have violent muscle. That might sound great, but try controlling the fuckers. I prefer obedient dogs to the rabid ones.”
“Thanks for comparing me to a dog.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, smirking.
After the guys cleaned up including Corbin’s truck, I followed them out of the woods and returned to Whiskey Kirk’s. We sat at Cooper’s booth and drank whiskey shots until Tucker puked.
Later, Kirk, Tad, and the older guys arrived to shake my hand and throw back a shot of whiskey with me. Tucker puked twice more before I finally stumbled into Tad’s SUV.
He drove me to his house where I crawled into Winnie’s bed. She frowned at how I reeked of alcohol. I burped a hello and her frown was replaced by a grin. After helping me out of my boots and jeans, Winnie cuddled up next to me, kissed me gently, and ordered me not to puke on her.
Chapter Thirty Three ~ Winnie
Days after he made his bones with the Reapers, I woke up to find Dylan watching me sleep. Propped up on one arm, he smiled at me. My fingers traced his lips. I imagined all the places they touched me the night before. Based on his sly grin, Dylan sensed where my mind had gone.
“Good morning, Winona Todds.”
“Good morning, beautiful Dylan.”
He leaned forward and kissed me gently. “We better get cleaned up for lunch at the folks’ place.”
“A quickie?” I asked, teasing his nipple. “Please?”
Dylan grinned then rolled out of bed. “Nope. We promised we’d get there early. Besides, you and me don’t do quickies.”
“We could try,” I offered as Dylan tugged me out of bed and into his arms.