Nash (The Skulls) (5 page)

Humiliation hit
Sophia in ways she wasn’t expecting. All the time she’d known Nash he’d never treated her in such a way.

“Let’s face it
. Kate was a whore.”

“Nash!”

Unable to handle the look in his eyes, she walked toward the back of the diner. Jackie followed her.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s being a little fucker.”

“He’s comparing me to Kate like everyone does,” Sophia said.

“You’re nothing like your sister
, and you know it. Ignore him. He’ll regret this in the morning.”

She nodded and went back out. The rest of The Skulls tried to stop him from saying anything to her. There was no shutting
Nash up. She took the jibes and kept working. Every once in a while she felt tears were close to the surface.

The women no longer looked happy with what was going on.
Tate kept looking at Murphy. When she grabbed their glasses and plates Sophia saw Nash reach out toward her. Nash didn’t get chance to put his hands on her as Murphy grabbed the other man tugging him out of the diner. She wasn’t going to say anything to them, but she’d never been so thankful for anything before in her life.

Lash glanced at her
, but she ducked her head finishing up the cleaning. In no time at all, The Skulls and their women were gone, and she could breathe a sigh of relief.

****

“He’s off the rails. I’ve never seen him like this,” Lash said. After everything he’d seen that day he knew it was only a matter of time before Tiny took everything away from Nash.

“What are you doing to do?” Angel asked.

“I don’t know.” He turned to see her sprawled naked on the bed. His cock thickened, wanting inside her once again. She was pregnant with his son or daughter, and she looked so fucking sexy.

“You can’t do everything for your brother. Nash needs to help himself as well.”

This was the first time he’d talked to her about the club business. Nash was his brother, but the drug addiction was going to turn into a club problem.

Moving toward the bed, he sat beside her, facing the floor. She wrapped her arms around
his neck, kissing him. His cock got harder.

“I know. I’m more afraid of what Tiny will do. He hates drugs
, and seeing Nash like this, it’s going to cut him up and make him lash out. My brother is crashing into everything Tiny has tried to protect. The drugs stay out of Fort Wills.” Lash ran his fingers through his hair, trying to clear his thoughts. They did the drug runs, and Tiny was clear that none of them was to be using.

“You’ll handle it.”

“Hardy had a word with him as well,” Lash said. “If Hardy’s seen what’s going on then it’s only a matter of time before Tiny does.”

“Tiny’s trying to work stuff out with Eva. He’s distracted for now.”

Lash shook his head. “He’s not. The club will always come first. You know that’s the truth.”

He blew out a breath wishing there was something more he could do.
It was only a matter of time before Tiny found out the truth. Lash only hoped Tiny remembered Nash as a boy, as otherwise his brother was well and truly fucked.

One week later

Giving up the drugs was not a good idea
, and Nash didn’t have a problem with them. He was more in control than ever before. Locking his bedroom door, he pulled out his stash of white powder and moved toward the bedroom. Tiny had called in all the members for a meeting, and he had twenty minutes before he was needed.

Going through to his bathroom, Nash locked the door. He pulled out his tray and started to arrange the powder in a line.
Rolling up a note, he placed the note toward the powder and inhaled. The buzz happened immediately.

After he’d snorted a couple more lines
Nash was more than ready to face downstairs. He ran some water, wetting his hair and wiping away the evidence of what he’d done. Nash felt alive and full of energy. Once he was finished, he pocketed his gun and made his way downstairs. Rose, Tate, Angel, and several of the women were playing cards around a table. The clubhouse was buzzing. Lash was talking with Blaine, and the prospects were waiting for work to be done.

Slamming his palm down on the counter he ordered a beer. The prospect looked unsure about getting him what he wanted. Nash saw the boy was looking toward his brother.

“Hey, fuckwad, don’t look toward my brother. I want a beer, and get me a fucking beer.”

“Nash, go easy. He’s new,” Lash said, suddenly standing beside him.

Jerking toward his brother, Nash saw his brother was frowning. “What the fuck are you doing telling the prospect not to get me a drink?”

“Tiny gave the order, no drinks.”

“He’s never given a shit before. Why is he changing his mind?” Nash asked.

The room had gone silent.

Stop this. This is not like you.

No matter how hard he tried, Nash couldn’t stop.

“Stop this, Nash. You’re going to make everything worse.”

Smiling, Nash looked around, settling on Angel. “Why don’t you start worrying about knocking up your slut and leave my drinking to me.”

It was the wrong thing to say, and in the back of his mind, Nash couldn’t believe what he’d just done.

Lash didn’t wait
. He hit out, slamming his fist in the side of Nash’s face.

“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” Lash asked. “That’s my woman, Nash. My old lady and you think I’m going to let you disrespect her?”

The other hit made Nash laugh. Getting to his feet he found his gun, and he raised it in the air. Something didn’t feel right about him. “Come on, guys, life is a party. We shouldn’t be wasting it on bitches or whores or old ladies.”

Before he could stop himself, he pulled the trigger. The shot rang out
, and what followed was chaos.

Tiny charged out of his office
, and Eva was flat on the floor.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Nash dropped the gun to the floor, and another shot rang out.

“Eva, are you all right?” Lash asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Blaine was getting up from the floor. “I saw where he was pointing. He had a clear headshot of Eva.”

“What?” Tate asked. The whole club was tense.

Nash was watching everything as if he wasn’t part of the show.
It was as if he’d escaped his body and was watching from the outside. Lash was stood with Angel, who’d been thrown to the floor by Steven. Eva was pale, and Tate looked ready to murder him.

“Nash had a clear shot of Eva’s head. If I hadn’t done what I did, he was going to kill her,” Blaine said.

“I wasn’t.”

Tiny was in front of him in a blink of an eye. “You stupid little fucking shit.” The lapels of his jacket
were tugged, and he was being dragged outside. The sun blinded him for a second, and he was thrown to the ground. Glancing around him, Nash watched as the other Skulls gathered around him. Even Alex Allen was there doing business and he’d witness Nash’s fall. Before all the drugs had taken over, Nash recalled that the other man was trying to move back to Fort Wills.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I was having a little fun,” Nash said, giggling.
The laughter was uncontrollable. In the back of his mind he knew he’d fucked up and should be begging for forgiveness. Instead he found the whole situation funny.

“Fun? Shooting a firearm in my club and you’re calling it fucking fun.” Tiny’s hands tightened into fists by his side.
The danger lurked in front of Nash, and he couldn’t give a shit.

“He’s not himself,” Hardy said.
Nash was shocked by the other club member sticking up for him, especially after he’d threatened to out him.

“I see the problem with my own Skull
, and I’m not going to stand for it.” Tiny stopped everyone from talking. “I gave you a reprieve because of Kate. She wasn’t your old lady but a sweet-butt. She meant nothing, and I still gave you time. I’ve given you too much fucking time, and it stops now.” Tiny stared at him with disgust.

The reality of his situation started to wake Nash up.

“It’s here, Sir.” Turning around, Nash saw one of the prospects holding his bag of white powder. The sight of his habit sent humiliation straight to his core.

“You little shit,” Nash said, walking toward the man. He stopped moving
, and Tiny held onto him, stopping him from going anywhere.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Tiny asked.

“He had no fucking right to go through my shit.”

Shut up. You’re in the wrong. Shut up.

Lash walked out of the clubhouse with Angel, Tate, and Murphy in tow.

The disappointment on Lash’s face brought
Nash’s whole world crashing down.

“How long have you been protecting him, Lash?” Tiny asked.
There was no getting away from what was about to happen. Nash knew the end of his time was coming close.

“He’s my brother.”

Angel was holding Lash’s hand tightly.

I’ve fucked up.

Nash felt himself wake up completely. Opening his eyes, he remembered what he had done to Sophia a week ago when his brother had been celebrating Angel’s pregnancy. He’d gone back to his drug dealer and gotten more of the stuff that had brought about this.

He’d not seen Sophia in a week. The last time he’d seen her he’d been a total bastard to her.

You don’t deserve her.

Tiny raised his fist
, and the first hit connected with his jaw. Nash went down, covering his face. When he opened his eyes he saw most of The Skulls standing with their arms folded. He’d brought this on himself. Butch, Lash, Hardy, Stink, Zero, Killer, Whizz, and Time were all there, including more of the men he’d been working with since he was patched into The Skulls to witness his end.

Druggie.

Addict.

Quitter.

Asshole.

Dangerous.

All the words rang out through his mind taunting him. Getting to his knees he climbed to his feet.

“You think you can be a drug taking asshole in my club you’ve got another
think coming.” Tiny reached out tearing the cut off his back. Nash tried to fight, but it was useless. He was a little boy again only this time the man who had once given him comfort was tearing the comfort away from him by pulling the only thing he’d ever wanted, his leather cut for The Skulls. Tiny had been there for him when his parents were killed.

“Fucking stop it,” Nash said, feeling like a child instead of the t
wenty-nine year old man he actually was.

“You don’t deserve this cut.” Tiny threw it in the trash
, and Nash watched as he lit a match and started to torch his leather jacket.

“Tiny,” Lash said.

He looked over toward his brother seeing the pain in Lash’s eyes. Nash felt like he was breaking apart inside.

“Stay out of this. I have rules. A couple of rules, Lash, and this fucker has taken the piss out of my rules.” Tiny turned back toward him.

Nash had seen Tony let loose on men who caused his family pain. The club was part of that family, and Nash had made the club a laughing stock. His actions put a dark ring around the club and made them look weak to their enemies. Dropping to his knees, Nash hung his head.

“Get to your fucking feet,” Tiny said.

No one spoke up, and Nash realized he’d fucked up big time. When he didn’t stand up, Tiny grabbed a chunk of his hair and brought him to his feet.

Ever since he’d joined The Skulls, Nash never thought he’d be the one facing this punishment.
He’d prided himself on being an integral part of the group. In the last few months he’d fucked up big. Staring in Tiny’s eyes, Nash knew he didn’t have a choice. Raising his fists, Nash got ready to defend himself.

This was the price of bringing drugs into the group. He was the only one stupid enough to think he could get away with it.
Tiny’s wrath also had to do with him putting Eva in trouble. Their leader wouldn’t claim Eva as his old lady, but everyone knew the truth. Anyone who laid a finger on the woman would end up dead after being tortured first.

Fuck, he’d almost killed her.

Nash blocked the first punch with ease. The next hit came at his ribs then to his stomach. Trying to get a hit of his own in was difficult. Tiny was in the peak of health and the strongest of them all.

Three strikes landed to his face knocking him back.
Pain exploded behind his eyes. Tiny wasn’t in the mood for playing. This attack was cold, harsh, and if Nash wasn’t careful he wouldn’t last the next ten minutes. With each hit the leader of The Skulls was getting angrier. The hits were getting harder, and Nash spit blood out onto the tarmac.

“Your father would be fucking ashamed of you,” Tiny said. “He was my right hand man. He left you to me
, and I helped raise you with Patricia, Eva, and fucking Mikey. You had everything you could want, and you turned into a fucking druggie.” Tiny slammed his foot into Nash’s stomach.