“He put you on Showalter,” Brody said.
“He put me under Showalter.” But she didn’t go into how much she enjoyed that aspect of it. She focused on the facts. Mostly. “He’s part owner of a sex club. The theory was I’d go in as a submissive, hoping he’d agree to introduce me to the lifestyle. Get what information I could on him. See if he was someone we could use as a source, or—”
“Someone to prosecute,” Roc spat.
“Yep, and pimping me out worked. Until Showalter learned the truth. I’m sure Rick is pissed. I didn’t stick around to find out just how irate he is. He’s probably sifting through the remaining team members to decide who he’ll offer up as collateral damage next. Good thing Viola went with me to the club one night, so he can’t use her. Although, that means she’s been made, too.”
“What the fuck?” Gauge whispered heatedly. His neck slowly turned a shade of red not unlike the morning sky. She wasn’t sure if it was because she’d just told him what she’d gone through…or if it was because she’d mentioned Viola. It was common knowledge the two of them had a history, but to what extent she wasn’t sure.
She sure as hell wasn’t asking him.
“So is he dirty?” Bear asked.
She opened her mouth to answer, but Roc snickered.
“I don’t mean like that!” Bear glared at him.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “It doesn’t look good. At all.” She was not going to cry. She looked around the shop, took a drink of her coffee, set the empty cup down, and picked up a wrench, blinking a few times to keep the tears at bay.
“I’m calling Rick,” Bear said.
She gasped and looked at him. Sure enough, he pulled out his cell phone. “Why? He knows where I’m at.” There was no question about that. “And y’all aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now.”
“He needs to know if he doesn’t give you time to decompress, he’ll have us to answer to.”
She opened her mouth to say something, doubting she’d be able to stop the waterworks with whatever she said, but he looked at Brody. “Get her suited up and started on Harvey’s engine.”
“C’mon. We got you something.” Brody motioned for her to walk with him toward the shelves where extra gloves, coveralls, and other gear was stored. As she made her way over there, the other guys in the garage inched their way toward her. She glanced over her shoulder at them, but they gave nothing away.
“Here,” Brody said, drawing her attention to him again. He pulled out a shirt like the ones they all had on. It had a patch on the side with the garage’s logo on it just like theirs, but it also had something else.
Her name.
They had a shirt made just for her.
“Oh my gosh.” She took it into her hands and caressed the stitching. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Just to be clear, we had that made after you left,” Hunter said.
“We were going to give it to you at the engagement party Anna’s planning,” Blade said, and rocked on his heels. “But now we don’t have to wait.”
“You guys,” she said, tears welling. The men all shuffled around, avoiding eye contact. It was almost comical how uncomfortable her emotions were making them. Rather than give in and boo-hoo, she decided to push it down and ease their discomfort. “But it doesn’t match my shoes.”
Roc chuckled and walked away.
The others smiled or shook their heads or rolled their eyes, all walking back to their respective bays.
And just like that, she’d been forgiven.
“So the government pimped you out, huh?” Blade asked as he loosened a lug nut. “How do we spread the word that we’re now a brothel and car shop?” He looked up and winked at her.
Not skipping a beat, Shelby said, “Offer two for one rimjobs.”
“Boom!” Hunter said. “Damn, it’s good to have you back.”
Chapter Twenty
Shelby’s few days off turned into a week. Being with the Bang Shift crew helped her more than she’d ever anticipated. Hanging out at the shop, working on cars, worked so well to distract her during the day, and visiting with Anna, Xan, and Roxie in the evenings had been crucial. Maya and Heather even joined them a couple of times after they’d gotten back in town. They’d been gone the first weekend she got there. Something about a planned weekend with Heather’s old friend, Caitlin Cooper. Shelby remembered the name since she’d seen some of Caitlin’s news reports.
It was during those moments with them all that she’d slowly vented more and more about what she’d gone through. With the men, they’d comforted her with threats of bodily harm to Rick and Mason. With the women, they’d forged bonds of sisterhood-out-to-destroy-men. If it wasn’t for all of them, she would’ve been holed up in a hotel room crying her eyes out.
Not that her time off changed anything. Mason had discovered she’d deceived him. How, she still didn’t know. Bear had reluctantly kept in touch with Rick, but there hadn’t been any new developments. Or so he’d said. What all he really knew she had no idea. She was just surprised she mattered enough to the guys for them to reach out to her boss.
Frankly, she hadn’t been able to find the strength to care about the details. All she could manage was focusing on one moment after the next. If she looked at the big picture, grief would creep over her. So she’d hidden, and she’d worked.
But her heart was still broken.
At night, the pain had been strongest. Whenever she’d shut her eyes, all she saw was Mason’s pain-ravaged face. She’d never forget the way he looked at her when he’d revealed he knew the truth. He’d been furious, but there had been more bleeding through, his soul open, and in that moment, she’d seen how much she’d truly hurt him. She would never forgive
