Saving Glory (Hells Saints Motorcycle Club Book 4) (6 page)

Hal looked at Jules with skepticism. Then he shrugged and said. “Nice fucking gesture. I won’t forget it.” Then he scrubbed a hand over his cheek and winced.

“That bothering you?” Jules asked him.

“Every day, all day,” Hal responded through a jaw clenched tight in pain.

“Yeah. I hear ya. Shrapnel working itself out will do that.” Jules tilted his head and narrowed his eyes to the damaged side of Hal’s face. “If you want me to, I can take a look at it. There’s probably something in the clinic that’ll ease that burn.”

“Yeah. Sure. Appreciate it, man. The scrip they gave me don’t do shit,” Hal told him. Then he gave Jules a sidelong look and got to the reason for the visit.

“She won’t leave my side. I know she means well. But, man, she’s driving me crazy.”

“Glory?” Jules asked, as he felt that old familiar pain take hold of him.

“Yeah. Glory.” Hal looked at Jules with a raised eyebrow as if to say who the fuck else?

Jules hesitated for a moment and fought through a sudden surge of emotion. “She’s been through a lot. Thinking you were going to die and all the rest that came before that.”

“And you’re a part of that. The part that came before.” Hal gave him a calculated look.
“Yeah.” Jules met that look head on. “I’m a part of that.”

Then because Jules’s mouth went suddenly dry at the thought of exactly how much a part of that he was, he drained the rest of the beer. With his mind in a spin, he got up and grabbed a couple more of the cold bottles out of the fridge and tossed one to Hal.

Hal caught it easily and, with a nod of thanks, continued on, “So I’m thinking that keeping an eye on me so I don’t hang myself or drown myself, or do any of the other stupid fucking things that nut job psych intern probably told Glory to watch out for isn’t the only reason my sister ain’t leaving that house.”

Jules shifted on his feet and crossed his big arms against his chest. Concern filled his voice. “Glory’s not leaving the house?”

“Twice. In two damn weeks. Once because we needed some basics from the grocery store and the other was to come with me to sign off on some paperwork at the VA. Both times she took that long ass highway route to avoid even driving by the compound. And I’m guessing, from the way you tense your jaw and tighten your arms against your chest every time I mention her name, your history with her is part of the reason she feels the need to hide the fuck out.”

“Meaning what?” Jules asked, though the answer was obvious.

“Meaning what that shit has meant for ages, man. My sister is afraid of running into you. Her
ex
, whatever that means to you and to her. When that whole
misunderstanding
went down with you and me last time, I kept out of your shit because I figured whatever you and Glory had together was none of my business.” Hal referred to that fateful night when Jules and he first met. The night Jules mistook Hal for an intruder and they almost killed each other.

“Way I see it? It still ain’t your fucking business,” Jules growled out a low warning.

*****
 

“Yeah? Well, that’s not the way I see it,” Hal growled back as the sudden visceral and primal need to protect his sister filled him. “You wanna listen up and hear this loud and clear. Because if there is some unfinished bullshit between you and Glory that’s keeping my sister chained to that house, then I’m making it my fucking business.”

Jules gave Hal a hard look and flexed a forearm as if in challenge. But on the subject of Glory Thomas—he remained stubbornly silent.

Hal watched the look of regret and frustration flash across the big man’s face. And even though he had no idea how a guy could let a woman get him all twisted up like that, he recognized the pain of love when he saw it. Hal had seen his fill of it on the faces of the soldiers in the field when they read their letters from their wives or girlfriends, or looked wistfully at the pictures they kept with them.

“Look, Jules. I am no expert on this shit.” He let out a sigh and raised his hands as if in surrender. “Never had a woman of my own for long, never wanted one because of complicated shit like this. But Glory’s my little sister. I’ve done a piss poor job of looking out for her so far and that’s gonna change. So I’m here asking you nicely. Over—not over—never even started in your eyes? I really have no idea what the hell went on between you two. But I’m asking you to make whatever it was right and I’m asking you to do it in a way that she can live with. Glory don’t need that shit weighing her down. Not after sitting by my sorry ass for the past year and a half.”

When Jules continued his stubborn silence, Hal came to a decision.

“You can’t find your way clear to that? To straightening up this bullshit? Then just say the word and I’ll pack our shit up and get us out of here,” Hal surprised Jules by saying.

“Yeah? And where the fuck you gonna go, brother?” Jules snapped and snarled out because the thought of Glory’s brother taking her away had suddenly put him in a very bad mood.

“Doesn’t matter. I won’t have her chaining herself to that house because you won’t man up and tell a woman that you got yourself shot of what she needs to hear in order for her to move on and get her life back.” Hal snapped back and leaned in.

Man Up.

“Poor choice of words.” Jules narrowed his eyes at Hal and leaned in even further until the two big men were almost nose to nose. “Make no mistake, Marine. Decorated or not, wounded or not, scarred fucking face or not, don’t mean shit. If you ever accuse me of not
manning up
again—especially where Glory is concerned, I am gonna take you the fuck down. Way I see it, I still owe you a cracked rib from that damn night that you put that sucker move on me.”

“Sucker move on you? Really, this shit again? You getting the drop on me by sneaking up and shoving a nine to the base of my skull—that ring a goddamn bell?” Hal shot back.

The two men stood tall and glared at each other as memories of a night filled with flashes of lightning, roars of thunder and streaks of violence filled their minds.

And those memories, along with the fact that Jules was apparently not gonna dance around Hal’s wounded warrior status, told Hal exactly what he needed to know about what kind of man Jules was.

And it also told him what kind of man he was—
still was
— in Jules’s eyes. Hal thought about the constant pain, the strain of the workouts, the nightmares, the goddamn flashbacks that came on him at a moment’s notice. He winced in self-awareness at the way his adrenalin kicked in at the most mundane things like loud noises or a sudden gust of wind. All the traumatic shit he lived with day in and day out— suddenly and for the first time the fear of all of that receded. And it made room for a kind of pride and reassurance that Hal had not felt in a long time.

Because Jules’s threat had made it clear that he still considered Hal to be his equal. And being considered equal to a man as big and badass as Jules was no small thing.

All of a sudden Hal was in a better mood than he had been in for a very long time.

“Apologies on the word choice, man.” Hal stood down and conceded to Jules. “That
man up
was a pussy comment and I shouldn’t have said it. I saw your name on the work order for the gym addition. So I’m feeling that you’re okay with my little sister being here. Just asking you to find a way to let her know that.”

Hal felt like he waited forever before Jules scrubbed a resigned hand over his jaw and relaxed his shoulders. Then Jules blurted out honestly, “Yeah, I get it. I know what you’re saying, brother. I’m sure as hell not proud or happy about the way things went down between Glory and me. But that shit’s my fault, not hers. And I don’t want her living like a damn recluse because of it.” Jules looked down at his boots for a minute. Then he straightened up his spine as if in resolution. “Truth is, I’d like to make things right between us, but for the fuck of me, I just don’t know how.”

“Well, that’s good, man. I’m relieved to hear it.” Hal gave Jules a lopsided grin.

“Yeah. Well, don’t go throwing up any confetti just yet, Hal. Because I have no idea how to make that happen.” Jules shook his head in confusion.

Hal put his hand down hard on Jules’s shoulder. “Lucky for you I’ve got a plan.”

It was one of those perfect days filled with warm breezes, billowy white clouds and beautiful blue skies. Glory hummed along with the old school playlist on her iPod. As she listened to Sinatra
spreading the news
Glory sat on the floor amidst two piles of freshly laundered clothes. She had asked Hal to string up a backyard clothes line for her after the aging Kenmore dryer had broken down. Even though it had been fixed for a couple of weeks now, Glory still hung out the wash whenever the weather permitted. In her mind there was nothing better than a set of smooth, clean sheets that smelled of sunshine.

Just as she was about to get up from her perch on the floor and grab a glass of iced lemonade, the screen door rattled on its hinges.

“Hi, Hal—” Glory trailed off and let out a small startled cry when she saw whose shadow it was that filled the doorway.

Jules
.

Holy shit
.

She sprang up from the floor so fast that she made herself dizzy. As Glory felt the blood drain from her face and pool in her feet, she fought to keep standing.

“Hey, Glory.” His voice bounded across the kitchen—
across time and space and the distance that had divided them for so long.
How many times had she imagined him calling out to her in that soft rumble?  How many times had she awakened from the dream of him, only to find herself all alone?

Glory was suddenly filled with such a violent surge of emotions that she didn’t know which one to feel first.

“Jules. Hi.” She spoke around the lump in her throat.  “I—um—I thought you were my brother—sorry—I didn’t hear anyone knock.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously and looked past him to the door.

“I didn’t.” Jules’s eyes drank her in.

“You didn’t?” Glory winced as she heard her voice crack, and felt her every nerve ending tingle with a charged heat. Because after what seemed like a lifetime of separation and dire circumstance, here they were again.

Standing less than two feet away from each other.

Close enough to touch.

“Didn’t do what?” She stared mesmerized by the play of biceps as they strained against the soft fabric of his tee-shirt— his muscles seemed to remain in motion even though he was standing still. The fullness of his lips, the scruff of his cheek, the angle of his jaw, and the…

“Knock.” He interrupted her thoughts with hungry eyes. Jules looked at Glory as if he were a dying man and she was a cool oasis in the middle of a scorching desert.  His gaze dropped to her mouth and he licked his lips before he answered. “You didn’t hear me because I didn’t knock.”

Glory tore her eyes away from the hard ripple of muscles on his chest. “You didn’t?” She almost moaned out the words. “Why Jules? Why didn’t you knock?”

His eyes deepened to a stormy blue and his mouth curved into a small rueful smile that turned her legs into jelly.

“Wasn’t sure you’d let me in, darlin’.”

Glory’s insides turned to liquid heat as that rumble washed her over with memories.

But not just any kind of memories.

The kind that made her body moisten in its deepest parts.

After over a year of imagining him standing there in front of her—there he was.

Close enough to touch
.

His long blonde hair was loose and windblown.  A thin scar cut across his strong, straight nose and stood out in sharp relief against the bronze of sun-kissed skin. Against the backdrop of lace curtains and floral wall paper, Jules gave the appearance of a creature half- tamed.

And he was enormous.

At six foot six, he was easily the largest man in a club of seriously big guys. But since Glory had last seen him, it seemed to her that Jules had grown to mythic proportions. His shoulders were impossibly broad and his heavily inked arms were roped with thick muscle. The T-shirt that stretched over the wall of his chest showed off an abdomen that was firm, flat and rock hard.

It was as if Jules had spent every minute of the past year lifting small cars, and twin engine planes.

But as Glory looked closer she realized that the self-assured arrogance that Jules had always owned so readily was now mixed with something else.

Something new.

There seemed to be a hesitancy in him. A wary vulnerability in his eyes that she had never seen before.

She didn’t know what had caused it.

Or how long it would last.

But it was a good look on him.

A very good look.

God help her.

Glory willed the jelly out of her legs and the flutters in her belly to stop. She had not come this far in mending her broken heart to be seduced by the mere presence of the man who had stomped all over it in the first place.

With tremendous effort Glory raised a hand and waved it at Jules dismissively. Then she forced a calm into her voice that she was not even close to feeling.

“Don’t be silly. You’re a
friend
, Jules. You’re always welcome here,” Glory bit down on her lip.

He lifted his brow at the emphasis Glory had put on the word
friend.

“So—uh—you’re good with it then?” He leaned back, folded his arms and threw her a challenging smile.

“Good with you dropping by?” Glory’s voice raised an octave. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m gonna be doing more than just dropping by, sweetheart.” He said with certainty.

She fought to keep her voice steady at the tone of his voice. “What do you mean?”

“So you don’t know?” He grinned at her.

Now
that
was a look Glory knew all too well. She peered closely at him just to be sure —and yup.

There it was.

The self-satisfied smirk of the man who had just put one over on her.

Oh, boy.

“So you want me to guess or are you gonna tell me?” Glory put her hands on her hips as the hopes for a new and improved, less arrogant Jules were dashed on the spot.

“Relax, baby. It’s not a big deal,” he reassured her.

Baby
.

“Hal’s gonna need someone to spot him with the weights, do some strength training with him—things like that. He came out to the compound a couple of days ago to discuss what he needed to work on and we made out a schedule. Thought he would have filled you in.” Jules’s tone seemed matter of fact.

“My brother asked you to help him with his rehab workout?” Glory couldn’t hide her surprise. It was not like Hal to reach out. Glory’s happiness at her brother taking an aggressive and positive step towards his recovery trumped her disconcertion at whom he had chosen to take that step with.

“Yeah. You forgetting that I’m a trained medic? I’m happy Hal reached out.” Jules broke into her thoughts. “So you good with it?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Glory hoped to hell Jules would not answer that.

She was not so lucky.

“I could think of a few reasons,” he answered that.

Glory looked down at her bare feet for a moment before looking back up at Jules.

Might as well get it all out on the table.

“I know how you and I left things and I know what you’re thinking.” 

“Yeah? Well I doubt that.” Jules muttered dubiously.

Glory went on determinedly as if she hadn’t heard him.             

“I won’t pretend that I haven’t thought the same thing. And that I haven’t even been a little”—Glory paused here and blushed slightly—“uncomfortable at the thought of seeing you again. But we are both adults, and I think we can put aside what happened between us and move on.”

“You mean
forget. Forget
what happened between us.” Jules took a small step towards her.

Glory read the challenge on his face and fought the urge to step back. “Yeah, that’s what I mean. I mean we forget.”

“Why?” Jules asked as he closed the distance between them. He was now close enough for her to see the pulse beating in his strong jaw and feel the heat that radiated from his body.

“Why what?” Glory was further distracted when Jules’s large arms caged her in with one swift, strong motion and the nearness of him almost stopped her heart.

“Why do you want to forget what happened between us, Glory?” His voice was low and husky.

Glory forced the breath from her lungs, and deftly moved out of his reach. When she was a safe distance away from him, she adopted a serious and superior tone, guaranteed to drive him mad.

“Because that’s what adults do when they make mistakes, Jules. They learn from them. They forget, and then they move on,” Glory explained with exaggerated patience.

“Really?” Jules’s eyes twinkled with wry amusement “No shit? That’s what adults do? They learn from their mistakes? Never been too interested in learning. Or in being an adult, I guess because there are some mistakes I get off on making so much that I like to repeat them. Again. And again. And again.”

That was such an outrageous statement and something so like Jules to say that Glory almost smiled back at the big hulking Viking god standing before her.

But then of course she came to her senses.

“Yeah, well, this mistake—” Glory motioned to the small space between Jules and herself. “Is one that will definitely not be repeated.”

Before Jules could respond, the screen door slammed hard, leaving Hal in the threshold of the doorway. He looked impassively from his sister to Jules then back again.

“So you two good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” Jules moved quickly to Glory’s left, snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.

Stunned, Glory could do no more than nod in agreement.

When she saw a small look of satisfaction flash between her brother and Jules, she moved away quickly, almost choking on the nerve of the two of them. Glory searched her brother’s eyes for the slightest indication of remorse or even apology for what had been a definite set up. A plan that had everything to do with Hal and Jules—his newly arrived-on the-scene, badass bestie—and absolutely nothing to do with her. Nothing to do with the sister who had been by her brother’s side through thick and thin from the beginning.

Well, so much for gratitude. Glory thought.

Then she took one more look at the two co-conspirators, walked out the door and slammed it hard behind her.