Chapter 2

"I'm so ready to be done with this shift." I'm not one for complaining, but the past twenty-four hours have been the worst shift I've had in a while.

"It's the damn full moon," Angie, one of my two partners, remarks with a laugh.

"I think having to deal with the call with the poison ivy on that guy's junk was the last straw," Mick grumbles with a shudder. "You two didn't have to deal with it. I did."

I give Angie a look while rolling my eyes. Mick can be a bit dramatic when he wants to be. We all can—it comes with the job. If we didn't, we'd end up letting the job get to us, and in this field, as a paramedic, as well as any first responder job, it can take a toll if you let it.

"Well, one of us could have dealt with it, but you simply drew the short straw on that one." I snicker, completely bullshitting with Mick, and he knows it.

The three of us aren't just partners, we're all good friends. The best.

Growing up, I didn't really have friends. Not the kind like Mick and Angie are. The girls that stuck around me were snotty and complete and utter bitches. Total socialites who thought their shit didn't stink. The first chance I had at getting out of that world, I took it. At eighteen, I signed up to take the courses I needed. It wasn't easy ‘cause when I did it, I didn't have a dime to my name.

The fire captain for the house I now work in realized this when he caught me sleeping in the car. Not the one my parents gave me, but a beater I'd bought using the little bit of money I did have that didn't go to paying for schooling. Captain Grady pulled me in and demanded to know, in his words, ‘What the hell is the matter with me'. I hadn't told anyone exactly who I was before that day. When I told him, he took me home with him and introduced me to his wife and daughter, who I already knew . . . Angie.

That was the day Angie and I became best friends. The two of us have been inseparable ever since. Neither of us are firefighters, but we're paramedics. It's what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I made it happen. It was the same for Angie. She hadn't wanted to follow her dad's footsteps, not totally. The one who did that was her brother, Ross.

Ross is older than both of us and carries the LT rank along with the privilege of being second in command. I'm personally happy for him. Since I've known him, he's become like a brother to me.

Granted, no one can replace my brother Simon. He's the only one from all that pain in my ass family that I still have anything to do with. Two years older than me, Simon and I were always close, but he's all about that world, whereas I much prefer my own. Still, we take time to have lunch together when my schedule allows for it.

I keep a pretty busy schedule, so it's not as often as I would like to see him. Between work and everything else I do, it doesn't leave me a lot of time. I'm the type of person I need to stay busy. So, when I'm not working, I'm found at the gym training and doing self-defense courses for women who don't know how to protect themselves. Captain Grady and Ross both thought it was a good idea for me to learn to defend myself, and it's surely come in handy.

In this job, there's been plenty of times we've responded to a scene dealing with drunks or junkies. It's one of the reasons Mick, Angie, and I make a great team. Where one isn't strong, the other steps in.

"What are your plans?" I ask both of them while we restock the bus for the next shift to come in.

"I'm going to find a way to erase memories of poison ivy dick from my mind." Mick snorts.

"You know you love it." Angie laughs.

"Not on your life." Mick gives a shake of his head. "No, I'm going to give Daisy a call and see if she wants to warm my bed while I'm off," he says, wagging his brows.

"I don't know why the two of you don't just make it official." The two of them have been on and off ever since I've met them. No matter how many times we tell them to get together officially, they refuse. I guess it's whatever floats your boat.

"You know how it is." Mick shrugs and cocks a brow. "What about you two? You going to finally do something other than work at the gym?"

I give a shrug of my own. "I'm supposed to meet Simon for lunch tomorrow, but I'm thinking about canceling. I need sleep and to get a few other things done." I hate to do it to him, but I've learned, I need to always put myself along with what I need to do first. Simon gets this and doesn't mind.

"Gwenny, you shouldn't cancel," Angie retorts, giving me that look. "You haven't seen Simon in a bit and should see him."

"I know." I nod with a sigh. I really should see him. I miss my brother. It's been a month since I last saw him. I mean, I've talked to him on the phone, texted him and whatnot, but we both had to keep rescheduling. From the last few times I've talked to him on the phone, I've got the feeling something's up with him, but what that is, I don't know. "I guess I'll keep the lunch with Simon, then I'll get to the gym. Tell Rico I'll be in afterward."

"You know Rico would be fine if you actually took a day off," Angie remarks and gives me a sly grin. "I could always cover for you."

I give her a roll of my eyes. "I'm sure you would." She's got a thing for Rico, but he's a player. He's not one to settle, and as he explained to me, he knows the type of women who are down for what he wants and those who are the type to settle.

The three of us finish out our shift and get our shit out of the bunks before heading out. I'm ready to get home to my little apartment and crash in the middle of my king-size bed.

"What's going on with you, Simon?" I ask, taking in the disheveled appearance of my brother. I don't think I've ever seen my brother not look unclothed. He's always had his hair neatly in place, shirt tucked in without a wrinkle in sight. Normally, he wears a collared shirt, but today, his hair is all over the place, and his shirt is just a simple blue T-shirt. "Something's wrong. I know it is, so you might as well tell me."

Simon lets out a heavy breath, shakes his head, and leans back in the chair across from me, his eyes not meeting mine. "Everything's going to shit, Gwenny," he answers. "Complete and total shit."

"What do you mean?" Bracing my elbows on the table and giving him my full attention.

"I don't want to draw you into it," Simon says, glancing around and leaning forward to get closer. "I'd never do that to you. Not if I could keep it from touching you, but I don't think I'll be able to this time."

"Keep what from touching me. What is it you're keeping from me?"

"The family is in debt, majorly in debt." He surprises me with his answer. "Because of that, I had to make a choice. Either do what was asked of me or allow the parents to take the easy way out of it. I couldn't allow this, Gwenny, and because of that, I'm sure I've made things a hell of a lot worse."

"You're gonna have to explain this a bit better for me to understand." Furrowing my brow, I try to figure out what he's talking about. "You need to talk to me, Simon. What's going on?" He's not making sense to me.

"I've done my best to protect you. To make sure you were never affected by the bullshit our parents have created for us all." He goes on to explain the massive debt the parental units have created and how it's affecting the family. "The worst of it all is the man they made the deal with is this guy, he'd pay off their debt, and they'll pay him back with interest. They haven't paid him back, and he's asking . . ." Simon grimaces. "I've got to get him what he wants or he's demanding you as payment."

I fall back in my seat, completely and totally flabbergasted by this new information. It shouldn't surprise me that our parents would do this and be okay with it. They're both materialistic and don't worry about anything else unless it's the next big thing. The newest out there. Sometimes, I wonder how I'm even related to them.

"What is it he wants you to get back for him?" I utter the question, feeling it weighing down on me.

"It's not something I can simply just go and get. He . . . damnit, Gweeny, it's a woman he wants back. This shit is deep, and he doesn't just want her. Now, he wants another woman as well."

Oh shit, this is not a good thing. Not even the slightest. I surely wasn't expecting this bomb to be dropped on me. "Why does this man want those women?"

"I don't know his reasons. Only that if I don't do what he asks, he's coming after you." Tears swell in Simon's gaze, and I can see that this has been hard on him.

"Have you tried to do what he asks?" I hope to God he hasn't. More than that, I'm hoping he went to the cops about it.

Simon clears his head and gives me that sheepish look he gets when he's guilty.

"Tell me you didn't," I mutter, chastising.

"I was trying to protect you, and Dad was ready to sign you over. I couldn't let him do that to you," Simon says hastily.

"Right." I nod and brush my hair out of my face. "Who was it and where? Whoever it is, they need to know what's going on."

I watch as Simon's face pales further, and he looks ready to puke as he answers me. "Both women belong to members of the Devil's Riot MC."

Great. Perfect.

Just what I needed to hear.

Sighing heavily, I get out of my seat. "Come on," I tell my brother and start toward the exit. Neither of us is going to be eating lunch. Not until we get this matter handled first.

"Where're we going?" Simon asks, rushing to keep up with me.

"To get this situation sorted."

"You can't just go and speak to this guy. It's not safe."

"Oh, we're not going to the man our family owes a debt to," I quip. "We're going to the Devil's Riot MC, and you're going to talk to them. This issue doesn't just involve us, it involves them." Plus, I have too much respect for those guys. Well, more like Avery and the other women who work at Rise-N-Shine Coffee. It's the only place in town to get a cup of coffee that isn't not only high priced but damn good. Because of my respect for them, I'm going to them and hope like hell they won't kill my brother in the process.