Free Wild Child: A Skull Kings MC Novella by Sage L. Morgan Page B

do.” Evidently, he’d been waiting all day to say that to me.
    I put my hands on my hips. “Well, I’m listening.”
    Gabriel took a few steps closer. He raised his hand and parted his mouth, but nothing came out. He turned away for a second and closed his eyes. Finally, he looked back at me. “Don’t do this, Lisbeth.”
    “Don’t do what?”
    “ This. Calling your FBI hook-up back in Canyon City, getting your gang all riled up. It’s too much, too soon. My brother and my Laughlin brothers are caught up in this, too. We need a way to get them out first before the Feds swoop in.”
    “You’re talking about guys like Jameson and Dash here. What favors have they done for you?”
    Gabriel shook his head, as if my words were flies buzzing in his ears. “They’re my family! They’re all I got!”
    “Some family!” I spat back. “They hurt your ex, they kidnapped Anna, they kidnapped me. They’re nice and cozy with the same guys who held me down and gave me this .” I flashed him my tattoo, making him flinch. “You say you don’t trust Anna because she got me into this mess way back when. Well, what’s your excuse, huh? How do you vouch for Dash and Jameson’s actions?”
    Gabriel began pacing slowly, cracking his knuckles. When he spoke, his nostrils flared. “I can’t betray my family.”
    “They’re not your family.”
    Suddenly, Gabriel spun on his heel and punched the wall, leaving a giant hole in the drywall the size of my head. Plaster crumbled to the ground when he pulled his fist out. There was blood on his knuckles.
    “Oh, god,” I murmured. I rushed over to him with a tissue. It was all I could find.
    He let me lead him to the bench in the waiting area and sat down. I told him I’d be right back and went into the back room where I remembered seeing a refrigerator. I hoped I’d find some ice in there, but the freezer was empty except for some frozen dinners and a frosty, half-empty bottle of Grey Goose. I grabbed the bottle.
    “This was all they had,” I said, showing it to Gabriel.
    “Nice. Just what I need.” He reached for it and grabbed it out of my hand. Then, using only his teeth, he unscrewed the cap and took a long swig.
    I felt a laugh bubbling up in my stomach, but I choked it back down. I tried to frown disapprovingly. “It’s supposed to be for your hand. It’s already a little swollen.”
    “Right, right,” Gabriel said, chuckling. He transferred the bottle to his bad hand and flexed his fingers around it.
    I sat down next to him. It was almost like the past few minutes hadn’t even happened. Or maybe, we were just pretending.
    Still, there was something I needed to tell him. I took a deep breath.
    “They’re on their way,” I said. I put my hand on his knee, almost absent-mindedly. “Logan—that’s the guy who’s our hook-up. His old lady, Carmen. My brother and his old lady. And probably the rest of the club.”
    Compared to his previous outburst, Gabriel took this especially well. He breathed out through his nose and sat back in his seat. The muscles in his jaw were working overtime as he gnashed his teeth behind his cheeks.
    “Fine,” he finally said. “I’m good with that. But once they get here, I’m out.”
    I felt numb with shock. “You promised you’d help me, though.”
    “I know, and I’m shit for breaking it. But I gotta go with my gut here, Lisbeth. You need to help Anna, and the only way you can do that is to go to the FBI. I get that, but I can’t be a part of it.”
    I nodded.
    “Besides, what good am I compared to the big bad government, right?”
    I laughed lightly along with him. “Right.” And I knew he was. But a small part of me wished that he wasn’t.

Chapter 12
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    “A re we close?” Adrian asked.
    “Closer,” Gabriel said.
    Adrian gripped his steering wheel tight and bared his teeth. “If I knew this place was out in the fuckin’ boonies, I would’ve stayed home.”
    I stared out the window