Unveiled Wishes (Iron Shield MC #2)

8. Make it Right

Chapter 8

Make it Right

G race

I was making sure that the spare room was ready for How’s sister before breakfast. Tucking in the last corner of the blanket, I heard a knock on the door.

“You rang?” Pretty instantly stuck his head in the door’s crack.

“Come in.” I hurried to the door, trying to get him to move quicker. I didn’t want anyone to see him in the hallway. This was innocent, but the brothers would hound us for details. It was already going to be hard enough to get Pretty to agree to my mischievousness.

“If this is going to get kinky, I am not that kind of brother-in-law.” He paused a minute, and his eyes went to the ceiling like he was thinking it over. “Oh shit, maybe I am.”

I rolled my eyes at him as I opened the door. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him over the threshold, glanced down the hallway to make sure no one had seen him, and then closed the door.

“Damn, woman. You know I am fragile.” He rubbed at the imaginary red spot on his arm.

“Are you done being dramatic?”

He gave me a few more seconds of the wounded face, and then I watched as his regular smile appeared.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked.

“Do you remember when you were a kid, and the older brothers would dress up like Santa with his elves for Christmas?” I was trying to appeal to happier times, hoping that it would work to win him over.

“Yeah, Bear would get the elves drunk so that they wouldn’t bitch too loudly when they had to put the costumes on. If they made a kid cry, they were on punishment duty.” He paused, and his eyes narrowed at me. “How do you know? Is this from when Sabre and the brothers were discussing Christmases past?”

“Who’s my favorite brother-in-law?” I asked with a wide, cheesy smile.

“You’re not married to my brother.” He pointed at me, making a circle with his finger.

“Small technicality, but I need a favor, and you’re the only one who can do it.” I made the same motion with my pointer finger, mirroring him.

“What did you do? You know, everyone’s been trying to figure out what’s in the stockings.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his fingers tapping against his bicep.

“I got Thunder to play Santa,” I rushed. “I just need you to be an elf and get the enforcers to play along.”

“No.” He vehemently shook his head.

“Why not?” Pretty was normally the first one to volunteer for silly shenanigans. I almost wanted to cry and beg because I needed him to play along.

“It’s tights!” He waved his hands at me, like I would easily agree that this was absurd.

“It’ll make your butt look good.” I appealed to his vanity instead. He couldn’t dig his heels in when I needed to make this happen.

His hands instantly stopped midair. “You were checking out my ass?”

“No, but it seemed like a good thing to say.” Of course, he would question my motives.

“I am going to tell Sabre you’ve been checking out my ass.” He went back to making the pointing motion, and I wanted to rip off his finger. No wonder Sabre threatened to kill him daily.

“No, you won’t. He’ll really kill you then, and I won’t be able to walk straight for three days.” If Pretty even insinuated that I was looking at his ass, Sabre’s jealousy streak would kick in. We were solid, but he would restate his claim. I didn’t want to find out if the man could have a three-day sex marathon. As the thought crossed my mind, my legs shook with excitement. It’d be worth it, even if my body gave out.

“That sounds like a you problem.” Pretty had noticed my legs trembling.

“Please, Pretty. This is important.” When I had heard the brothers talking in the kitchen, I knew I wanted to make this happen for them. They needed a reminder that they had a family here, and there was no better time than the holidays.

“How important?” His lips quirked to one side, like he was thinking it over.

“Potato salad important.”

“I need enough so I can rub it all over.” He waggled his eyebrows in exaggeration.

“That’s gross, but if it will get you to say yes…” All that mattered was that he agreed.

“Nah, but that would be fun, though. Make me a pan, and I’ll wear the tights.”

I hugged him. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

“Yeah, you know I was going to do it. I just had to put up a fight.” He shrugged.

“Well, now you have to rope in Twig, Pint, and Berry. I have costumes for them, too.” I’d purposely picked Pretty because he was the most comfortable in his sexuality. The other three were the biggest men in the club. This would go down in infamy.

“Fuck me.”

***

Zook

The holidays were rapidly approaching, and there wasn’t much going on. Chef had prepared breakfast, and the brothers had rearranged the tables so that we could all eat together. I would have normally enjoyed it, but How was going to have to leave soon to pick up Em, and I was nervous. I wanted nothing to ruin their visit, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to relive the past.

“What time are you leaving?” I asked How, trying to swallow a bite of eggs.

“In an hour. I have to wait for Grease to bring my bike keys back,” he answered, shoving bacon into his mouth.

I was confused. I had made sure that How had borrowed one of the club cars from Grease. He wasn’t taking his bike, so why did he need his keys? I panicked, and my thoughts were rapidly firing questions. He wouldn’t put her on the back of his bike, would he? I had to know for my peace of mind. “You’re not taking your bike, are you? You don’t have a helmet. Plus, where are you going to put her suitcase?”

His eyes narrowed at me over another piece of bacon. “I am not. Grease dropped off one of the club’s extra cars and took my bike for an oil change early this morning.”

My stomach sank with worry. How was going to find out why I had broken Emily’s heart, and I didn’t know what his reaction would be. I couldn’t lose How as my best friend. It was a pickle that I had considered when I’d sent that last letter.

“What’s going on?” He ate another piece of bacon, snapping it in half with his teeth.

I didn’t respond, looking down at my plate and grabbing another fork full of eggs.

“I know something’s going on. You’re acting weirder than normal.” He ate the other half of the bacon, leaning forward towards me.

My head popped up at that one. “I am not weird.” The eggs that had been on my fork fell into my lap. No one laughed, as they were more invested in our conversation. I grabbed my napkin and tried to pick up the pieces from my jeans.

“When Em called, I got the vibe that something’s up with her and Christoper. Suddenly, she’s coming when she’s never been to the club, and you’re acting peculiar. Makes me think her visit has nothing to do with me.” He slid his plate in front of him and put down his fork to stare into my soul.

“You’ve already decided that you know everything.” I rolled my eyes. Em wasn’t coming to see me, but I was here, and she wouldn’t be able to avoid me unless I hid in the shadows.

No one was talking around the table. They were too busy eating breakfast and listening to us.

“You going to tell me what I am missing, or are we taking this outside? I got about forty-five minutes.” How hooked a finger over his shoulder. He didn’t have a problem pushing me into a fight, knowing full well I’d never take a swing at him. We were too close for that bullshit.

“I won’t fight you.”

He leaned in even further. “I guess you’re going to have to tell me then.”

How wasn’t giving me an out, so I started with the truth. He already knew this part. “Do you remember when we had R&R, and I came with you to the Hamptons?” I tried to take another bite of eggs, but they tasted like sawdust. Giving up, I laid my fork on my plate and pushed it towards the middle of the table.

“Yeah, so?” He narrowed his eyes at me, remembering the trip. I knew he was analyzing it for anything that was amiss.

“I asked her to write to me.” I needed him to conclude on his own, so that I wouldn’t have to spell it out.

“Yeah, I remember. What the fuck does that mean?”

“He caught feelings over the letters,” one brother explained. It must have been someone with military experience. I wouldn’t know who it was because I was staring at How, and he was staring at me.

“You caught feelings over Emily’s letters?” His eyes narrowed at me.

I lowered my eyes, not sure if he was going to leap over the table and hit me.

“You caught feelings,” he stated. “How long did it last?”

“I ended it when I got my official release papers during the last deployment.” I had been so excited to tell her my service was almost over.

“If you’re going to be man enough for my sister, then you look at me when I'm talking to you.” He shifted back in his chair and crossed his arms so that his elbows rested on the table.

“You’re awfully pushy about something that’s over.” I crossed my arms and sat back in my chair.

“Is it really over?” he asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t talked to her since I sent my last letter breaking it off.” I’d regretted that last letter, but it had been necessary. She wouldn't accept that it was over, unless I broke her heart, and I had tried to do it as gently as I could.

“Why did you break it off?”

I took a deep breath and raised my eyes to the ceiling for a minute. I relived the past, and when I was ready, I looked back at him. “You know how you keep your release quiet until the paperwork actually comes in so that they don’t talk you into more?”

“Fuckers almost got me for another four years that way,” I heard from somewhere down the table.

How nodded his head and made a hand motion for me to continue. The rest of the table was just as enthralled.

“My paperwork came in, so I told her, not thinking too much about it. She had just started her last semester of college and was applying to law schools.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “Her last letter told me to pick somewhere to live. She didn’t care if I wanted to stay near the base or go somewhere new. Em told me to pick, and she’d make the arrangements.”

I didn’t want to continue, but one look at How, and I knew I had to. He needed to understand why I had called it off. “I didn’t want her to use your parents’ money to set us up, so I went to check to see how much I could send her. That’s when I knew I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t have enough to support her, and I wasn’t making the money we do now. I told her she was living out a little girl’s dream, and that I was sorry I had led her on.”

His jaw shifted, processing what I had told him. “You broke her heart by letter, stayed near the base until I discharged, and then we drove cross-country.”

“Something like that.”

“She’s going to be here in a few hours. What were you planning on doing?” How asked.

“Hide in the background. I don’t want to ruin your visit when I know it’s been a few years since you’ve seen her.”

“Nope.” He grinned. “You’re going to make this right.”