Shift (The Disciples' Daughters #2) by Drew Elyse Read Free Book Online Page B

be hard for her. I would have taken care of it all.
    Her choice.
    I looked at my brothers. “I plan to stay the hell away from her, so you don’t have to worry about it. And while we’re discussin’ it, I don’t appreciate the fucking preaching. I respect the fuck out of you both, but I don’t tell you how to live your lives, how about the same courtesy?”
    Neither of them looked thrilled, but Stone gave in. “Fair enough.”
    And that was my cue to get out of there.
    I rounded the corner to the stairs, fixing to get myself good and plastered in my room. I didn’t make it there, though. Standing in the hall was a little girl.
    Great. Wonderful. Who was fucking the mom while this little girl just wandered aimlessly through the house?
    Sometimes living with my brothers was a fuckin’ nightmare.
    I walked down the hall toward her and as I approached, she moved one little hand that had been rubbing her eyes and looked up at me.
    Everything stopped.
    For one long moment, I wasn’t at the farmhouse. I wasn’t twenty-five, a Disciple, or a tattoo artist. I was six years old at the clubhouse with my uncle, Gunner, and my entire life was about to change…

    I loved when Uncle Gunner brought me to the clubhouse. The guys were nice and fun. Mom and Dad were always fighting when they weren’t at work. That afternoon, they were fighting about the fact that Dad hadn’t actually been working when he was gone. They always started yelling. Dad would talk about someone named Ellen, then Mom would throw things. I learned at school you’re not supposed to throw things. I don’t know why Mom always did. She should know better.
    When I told Uncle Gunner about their fighting, he got kind of scary. He didn’t yell or anything the way Dad would, though. He sat me down and made me memorize his phone number. I had to promise I would call him if they started fighting again.
    When I heard Dad say Ellen’s name that afternoon, I kept my promise. Uncle Gunner said he would be there to pick me up in fifteen minutes.
    Dad didn’t try to stop me when I left the trailer. Uncle Gunner’s motorcycle was loud enough to hear inside. Dad never tried to tell Uncle Gunner what to do the way he did with everyone else. That was because Uncle Gunner was awesome and huge, and he was a Disciple. You didn’t mess with the Disciples; that’s what Uncle Gunner told me.
    One day, I was going to be just like him. I was going to be big and strong and ride a Fat Boy. And I was going to be a Disciple, too.
    I was hanging out in the living room of the clubhouse playing a racing game against Uncle Gunner on the PlayStation 2 when Indian came in. He was giving a girl a piggyback ride, but I could only see her legs. She had on pink shoes with little flowers on them. They weren’t dirty like mine. She probably didn’t play outside much.
    “Hey, little man. Didn’t know you’d be stopping by today,” Indian said. Uncle Gunner told me they called him Indian because he road an Indian Motorcycle instead of a Harley like most of the guys did. Indian was his road name, just like Gunner was my uncle’s. If I became a Disciple, I would have a road name someday, too.
    “Hi,” I said back, but I was looking at his shoulder. I could see the top of the girl’s head behind him, but she wouldn’t look up. I wondered why she was hiding.
    “Works out great that you’re here,” he went on. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” He turned his head and spoke over his shoulder, but I could hear him. “Hop down, Firefly.”
    I watched the legs with the pink shoes tighten around his waist.
    Indian knelt down and kept talking to the girl holding onto him. “Come on, sweetheart. Don’t be shy.”
    The legs let go and Indian stood back up. The girl kept hiding behind him, her body showing a bit between his legs.
    Uncle Gunner went over to Indian’s side and crouched down. “Hey there, honey. Don’t you want to meet my nephew?” Her blonde hair shifted around. It