Chapter 3

3

Sniper – Twenty-Eight Years Old

I chuckle, listening to Sarah, my big brother's woman, snap at the delivery driver for scratching a customer's car.

The woman is fucking fierce, that's for sure.

I never thought I'd see the day when Snake would settle down, but here we are; she has him under her spell, and it's fucking awesome to see.

A few years ago, when Hairy had betrayed us, Snake went to Devil's Temptation, the strip club we own, to wallow, and locked eyes with Sarah. She was there for a bachelorette party.

The idiot ended up fucking her frenemy, the bride to fucking be and a woman who became a clubwhore, thinking it was Sarah because of the hair color. After he realized he'd fucked the wrong woman, they hadn't seen each other since…until I hired her here as a receptionist.

She'd just graduated from school and hadn't gained the necessary experience to become a mechanic, but I liked how hard she was working. I knew she'd fit in well here, and she does.

When we brought Snake to the garage and introduced them, he instantly claimed her and fought for her, and she gave him a chance, but then the fucker fucked up. His ex-fling, Amber, who, yes, I fucked a few times, got in his head.

Sarah's little sister Mary was fifteen years old and had cancer. Obviously, that's a sore subject for my brother, having had cancer himself, and he believed Sarah had lied to him to get his attention. Until he saved her from getting hit by a car and found out Mary passed away as Sarah watched.

It's then he realized he was a fucking idiot, and has been trying to win her back since.

Fucker has a long road ahead of him.

"Stupid, stupid men!" Sarah snaps, and I roll out from under the Mustang, and raise a brow at her.

She shakes her head at me.

"Don't look at me like that; you know I love you. I mean, I'm here, aren't I?"

I smirk. "Yeah, but only because the fuckers you tried to dump my garage for nearly killed you…."

She winces and pushes her curly blonde hair out of her face, stating, "Touché."

She thought leaving the garage and working elsewhere was a better option, hoping to get over Snake. Instead, she got herself in danger when she realized they were smuggling drugs in the vehicles, and the owner attacked her.

She got fucking lucky.

After that, she moved in with my brother but has still been cold with him, making him sweat.

I chuckle, roll back under the car, and ask, "Have you let my big brother off the hook yet, sister?"

She hums, and I can hear the smile in her voice as she admits, "I did when he saved me from that jackass and held me up after losing Mary. I'm just making him work for it."

I laugh. See? Fucking fierce….

"You keep making him work, darling," I grunt, knocking the exhaust of the Mustang, and parts of metal start to drop off.

Fuck me, did they take a sledgehammer to it? The thing is fucked and needs replacing, but the fucking car lift has stopped only a few inches off the ground.

"Sniper, when will Larry come out and look at the lift? I don't feel comfortable with you getting hurt, and doing an exhaust like that is dangerous," she states, and I groan, rolling back out from underneath the car.

Standing, I sigh. "This afternoon. I just wanted to see how bad the thing was, and it's fucking rusted through." She nods, then tilts her head, batting her eyelids, and I groan again. "Whatever it is, it's a no…."

She pouts. "You're acting like I'm about to ask you to run around the club butt naked again…."

I snort. "Exactly, again . And I only did it because you wanted to get back at Snake for being a dick and needed a distraction. I'm not doing that shit again, Sarah. I'm pretty sure I traumatized my mother."

She grins wide. "It was a good day, though…."

I chuckle, nodding. She spraypainted Snake's office bright pink—paint everywhere. It was fucking funny, that's for sure.

"What're you after?" I ask, wiping my hands.

She grins. "A mocha latte and triple chocolate muffin."

I chuckle. "And you can't go because?" I raise a brow and ask, "Who's the boss here, you or me?"

She grins. "Well, obviously, you're the boss, but I need to call the sedan's owner and tell them what the delivery driver did. The scratch goes from the hood to the trunk, and it's deep. I got the driver's details, so they can't sue us, but…."

Yep, that would do it. I confirm with a nod. "Mocha latte and triple chocolate muffin on their way…."

Put up with an angry customer or go to the bakery…. No fucking brainer.

She grins, and I walk over to her, kissing her head, before going to my Jeep. Since I'm driving my cage, I leave my cut in the office. I climb into my Jeep and start her up, blasting the heavy metal music. I see Sarah grin and shake her head while Ted and Paul, my other two mechanics, start dancing like idiots, making me laugh.

Reversing out of my spot, I maneuver the Jeep toward town, happy to have these people in my fucking life.

Ten minutes later, I pull up in front of Baked Goods, my stomach growling. I see it's past two in the afternoon, which means I worked through lunch again.

"Maybe Sarah had the right idea about a coffee break," I murmur as I climb out of my Jeep and head inside.

The bell dings and Florence's, the owner's daughter, head whips my way. She grins wide and pulls her top down, showcasing her tits, and I roll my eyes.

The woman is a patch chaser. Every fucking party we have at the club, she's there, and it doesn't matter how many times we express we will not make a woman who has fucked all the brothers an old lady, she doesn't listen. She wants a brother, and she wants what the patch brings her.

Never going to fucking happen.

Sighing, I walk toward the counter just as the back door swings open and instantly I relax, making eye contact with Olivia's light blue eyes.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Livvy," I rasp.

Her eyes go from me to Florence, who's now scowling, then back to me, and she grins wide, making me narrow my eyes, knowing she's about to leave me in Florence's care.

I snap, "I get it, Smokey's a dick, but you can't punish me for that; you love me, remember?"

The idiot let his ex-wife get in his head, as well as his momma. Liv's ex and father of her child, Phil, is gay. She decided not to tell Smokey that information, and Kallie, Smokey's ex-wife, used it to her advantage. A few years ago, Smokey called Livvy a whore in front of everyone in the club, and he's been trying to win her back since.

Fuck, her daughter April even calls him daddy. But he hurt her, and it doesn't help he did it in front of April.

I think she's wavering, though….

Instead of getting upset, she laughs, and I shake my head as my phone pings.

Narrowing my eyes at Livvy playfully, I get my phone out and smile, seeing the message.

Kennedy: Sarah mentioned you're at Baked Goods. x

Chuckling, I message her back.

Me: Blueberry muffin coming up. X

Sighing, I put my phone away and look at Liv. I state, "I've been dispatched on a coffee run because, you know, it's not like I'm the boss or anything."

She laughs and states, "A mocha latte, triple chocolate muffin, six caramel slices, and three black coffees coming up…."

I grin and add, "And a blueberry muffin."

She giggles. "And a blueberry muffin for Kennedy."

I grin back as she turns to get my order ready, all while Florence sulks because she's not getting my attention. However, that doesn't stop her eyes from roaming my wife beater, showcasing my muscles.

I shudder in disgust, suddenly wanting a shower. I heard she caught chlamydia last week from some sixty-nine-year-old man one town over.

Fucking gross.

Ignoring her, I watch Liv get the to-go cups, and grab my phone quickly, hoping she doesn't notice. I take a picture of her and send it to Smokey with the caption, ‘She's working today….' knowing he'll pop over.

"Don't think I don't know you've just sent a picture of me to Johnny," Liv says, making me jump, and I chuckle.

"Don't know what you're talking about," I lie, making her look over her shoulder and stick her tongue out at me.

Grinning, I look at my phone when it goes off, and chuckle when I see Smokey's reply. "He'll be here in ten…."

She sighs. "Traitor."

I snort just before something cold splats on the side of my face, shocking me.

"Oh my God, Autumn! No, baby!" A woman gasps…which I am extremely uncomfortable to admit makes my dick twitch. Liv turns round to see what the commotion is but soon starts laughing.

I feel a napkin wipe my face as I blink several times in shock, all while Liv laughs her ass off.

A woman stutters, "I am so s-s-sorry, sir…." She's laughing.

I curl my top lip, fighting back laughter of my own.

"Momma, Momma," a small voice giggles. "Look, share," it continues.

"Yes, baby…. Sir, I-I am really sorry, she uh, she's in a sharing phase," the woman continues as she tries not to laugh, and wipes my face.

Liv plops my order on the counter, her face red, and I point at her. "Now I'm glad I told my brother you're working." She laughs louder, not one bit giving a shit, before I turn to the woman and state, "No offense, lady, but you don't seem very sorry with the laughter you're…."

My words trail off as we make eye contact, and holy shit, I feel like I've just been punched in the gut. All the air is sucked out of my lungs as my eyes lock with her deep green ones.

Fuck me….

I let my eyes roam her body. Her red hair is up in a messy bun, she's in overalls, and freckles are scattered over her button nose. Her plump, heart-shaped lips part a little.

She's fucking beautiful.

My heart races; the urge to pull her into my arms and hold her tight is strong, and I'm instantly scared of that feeling.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The woman blinks several times, clearly feeling the same as me, and I know, at this moment, she's fucking mine.

"Oh, shit…. And another one bites the dust," I hear Liv mutter, but I don't take my eyes off the beauty standing before me.

I can see it all.

My future, my wife, my home.

Fuck….