Filthy Bastard (Grim Bastards MC) by Emily Minton, Shelley Springfield

that’s gonna be even harder.
    Taking in a deep breath, I look to my President and friend and offer him the one thing that I hold above all others. “As Sergeant at Arms, it’s my job to watch your back. I fucking failed. If you want my patch, I’ll understand.”
    “Fuck you, brother,” Boz growls out, pointing a finger in my face. “I ever hear that shit leave your mouth again, I’ll do more than take your patch.”
    He then motions toward Stone’s body and orders, “Clean this shit up and get his fucking sorry ass out of my clubhouse. Bury him out back, right along the tree line. He doesn’t get a fucking marker, nothing reminding us of him. Just put him in the ground.”
    With those words, Pres leaves the room and stomps up the stairs. I wait until his footsteps fade away, before I release the chains on Stone’s arms and pull him onto the plastic. Once done, I roll it around him then shove his body to the corner and grab the bleach.
    Smoke walks over to the faucet we have in the corner of the basement, and as he turns the water on, he says, “We will have to go by and check on Stone’s old lady. I know he said not to tell her anything, and I agree with that. Still, we need to find out if she knows anything. He could have died with secrets that would haunt the club for years.”
    “You’re right. We have to figure out what she knows.” I nod in agreement.
    I hope like hell talking to her ends up a lot cleaner than talking to Stone did. I’ll do what I have to do for my club, for the brotherhood. Hell, I’d do anything Boz or Smoke asked me to do. Still, it’s gonna be hard as fuck torturing a woman. Just putting the fear of God in Cherry was nearly more than my stomach could handle.
    “Have you ever met her?” I ask, wondering what kind of woman could possibly give birth to a monster like Crank.
    “Seen her once, when he first brought her in,” he says with a look of disgust on his face. “She was so damn young, barely legal from the looks of her. She didn’t look all that happy to be by his side either, and I think she was scared to death of Crank.”
    “What?” I ask, trying to make sense of his words. “I thought Stone was married to Crank’s mom. Hell, he talked about her all the time.”
    “Nah, she ran off about seven years ago. He just never got over her leaving him with a kid. I think sometimes he liked pretending she was still at home waiting for him. The new woman showed up a few months or so later.” His eyes cut to me as he adds, “You weren’t around back then. I’m thinking you were still inside.”
    “Yeah, I was,” I reply, shrugging. “Guess we’ll find out what she knows when we talk to her. Might have been a reason she didn’t look all that happy with Stone.”
    “Wanna ride out after we get this cleaned up?” he asks, running a hand through his beard.
    Shaking my head, I mumble, “No, man. Tomorrow or even this weekend is soon enough to question her.”
    He nods and adds, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
    “Let’s get this shit done and over with. I want to get a fucking shower, clean the stench of the son of a bitch off my body, then climb in bed with my woman,” I say, without thinking about the words coming out of my mouth.
    Smoke’s eyes jerk to mine, and a smile spreads across his face. “Your woman, huh? You laying claim to Red?”
    All thoughts of blood and retribution fade away as my mind fills with Addy. “I’d like to, but I’m thinking she ain’t gonna let it happen.”
    As much as I want to make her mine, at least give it a fucking try, I know it’s not possible. She has something holding her back from me, but I’m not sure what it is. It may be the club, her family, or even school. Hell, it could even be another man. With time, I could probably figure out what and work around it. Now, though, we know the truth about Hoss’ club, so the girls are gonna be free soon. I’m betting Trix will stay with Boz. For me, though, my time is