Page 17 of Ride Forever

Monroe snorted and sat back down. I had him.

“What kind of crew.”

“Fortitude MC.”

“No way in hell.” He waved me off. “You want to put me under the thumb of another madman?”

I grinned, thinking about Sloane. “It’s under new management.”

“Marini…”

“Is dead.”

He scratched his head and frowned, the cogs in his mind working overtime.

“Changes things, right?” I raised my eyebrows, waiting for his answer.

As I saw it, he didn’t have much choice. Even in Fortitude’s current state of turmoil, it was a far sight better than waiting for the diner to go completely under. That was if the Hollow Men didn’t decide putting a bullet in his head was better for everyone. With the MC, Monroe had a chance at a better life. One that could be a family. Bikers were like that, despite the criminal undertones.

“I know you, Monroe,” I continued. “You’re not a bad guy. You’re just a victim of circumstance, profiting the only way you know how. When I knew you before, you wanted to get out. You wanted out so bad, you were willing to sell out King himself. Well, here’s your last chance.”

“How do I know you won’t cross me again?”

“You don’t.”

I stared at him as he stewed over my proposition. Asking a man like Monroe to have faith was like asking for the impossible, but put him between a rock and a hard place…

“I can tell you what I know, but it isn’t much,” he warned. “Like you said, times have changed.”

I downed the last of my Coke and slammed the glass bottle on the table.

“I’ll take whatever I can get.”