Page 16

C urled up on the couch, I’m completely engrossed in the book in my lap. It’s about a man and a woman who had a one-night stand that resulted in a child. The woman tried telling him, but his mom meddled and now, years later, he’s just found out that he’s a father.

I shake my head in disbelief. I can’t imagine how either the man or the woman are feeling. How do you get over that type of hurt? Do you ever really forgive?

“Bailey, what are you doing here?” a female voice says.

I look up and smile when I see Donna.

“Hey, I’ve been spending some time around here. How are you?” I ask as I close the book.

She sighs and sits down next to me. “Can’t complain too much. God, I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

“It has been a long time.”

Thinking back on it, I don’t think I’ve seen her since Hayes left. Back then she was just a kid who was always around the clubhouse. Her mom wasn’t in the picture, so it was up to her dad and the club to raise her.

“Tell me what’s new,” I demand as I study the woman in front of me. “You’ve grown up.”

She smiles. “That’s what happens when you haven’t seen someone in years.”

“Touché. Now fill me in.”

“Well, I’m a senior in high school, and I’m getting ready for college.”

“Yeah? Any idea where you want to go?”

“Actually, I’ve already been accepted to go to school in Chicago,” she says, shocking me.

“You plan on going that far? I’m surprised your dad is okay with that.”

She rolls her eyes. “Dad couldn’t really say no when I was offered a full-ride on a sports scholarship.”

“No, I guess he couldn’t. Congratulations, that’s amazing. What sport do you play?”

“Soccer. I love it.” She sighs. “I can’t wait to start over somewhere where they don’t know who I am or who I’m tied to. It’s going to be amazing.”

“Sometimes you have to leave home to find yourself before coming back,” I say, thinking about Hayes. He needed to get out and grow up before coming home.

“I don’t think I’ll ever move back to Texas permanently,” she admits. “I never liked it here.”

“Don’t say that too loud, or your dad might go with you.”

She rolls her eyes. “He actually talked about transferring to the Lotus chapter in Chicago. I had to talk him out of it.”

I laugh, shaking my head. Clearly her dad, Dagger hasn’t changed.

Another woman walks up and joins us, sitting down in one of the chairs.

“Oh, Bailey, have you met Viv?” Donna asks.

“Yes. She makes a mean mocktail.” I look over at the other woman and smile.

Viv smiles at me. “You are too kind.”

“Awesome. I don’t need to do the whole awkward introductions then.” Donna looks back at me.

“Nope,” I tell her.

Viv studies me. “So you and Savage, huh?”

“Uh…” I stutter, feeling my face going red.

Donna laughs. “Oh yeah, that man has been claimed by her since we were all kids. It was about time they finally got back together.”

“I wouldn’t say that…” I mutter.

Donna scoffs. “Please. I swear to God, you and Savage set the standard for me. If a man doesn’t look at me the way he looks at you, then I don’t want him.”

“You’re crazy,” I tell her, shaking my head.

“Hey, what about the girl that hung out with you sometimes who wasn’t tied to this place? Whatever happened to her?” Donna asks.

“Laura, and she still lives here in town. Speaking of her, I need to check in on her.” I say.

“Why?” Viv asks as she makes herself comfortable.

“Her brother is missing, and we think he might be dead,” I say bluntly.

Donna and Viv cringe.

“Shit, that sucks,” Viv says.

“No, kidding. Poor woman,” Donna says, shaking her head.

When one of the prospects walks over, we fall silent. “Can I get you ladies anything to drink?”

“Vodka crans for all of us,” Donna tells him.

The prospect nods and walks off.

“Um, aren’t you a little young to drink?” I ask.

Hell, do I even want to drink?

Viv smiles. “Please, age is just a number around here. These guys don’t give a fuck. Unless it comes to actual fucking, then they care.”

“Dad always said that me drinking is the least of his concerns,” Donna adds.

The prospect comes back over and hands us all our drinks before walking away.

“So Viv, are you from San Antonio?” I ask as I take a sip.

Oh shit, this is good and just the right balance where you can’t taste the alcohol.

“No, I moved here about a year ago to escape a shitty situation,” she tells me.

“By a shitty situation, she means her parents are part of a cult,” Donna stage whispers to me.

Viv rolls her eyes.

“Wait, she’s not serious right?”

“Oh, she is,” Viv tells me.

“Damn, I thought cults were a thing of the past. I didn’t realize they still existed,” I say, shaking my head.

“Unfortunately for me, they do. Now let’s change the subject,” Viv says before taking a hearty swig of her drink.

I need to ask Hayes what he knows about this cult because now my curiosity is running. What cult and where? How did she leave?

“Can I just say I’m glad this place is cleaning up?” Viv says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Donna groans. “Me too.”

I frown as I look between them. “Was it really that bad? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I saw the mess that was here but what else was happening?”

Viv points at me. “If you helped clean this place up, thank you. I only come in once every two weeks, and I couldn’t get caught up. I have a full-time job and only help out here when I can to have protection from these guys. It was like as soon as I took a step forward, I had to take two back. It was insane.”

“You’re welcome,” I tell her.

Donna touches the side of my leg, making me look at her. “Rogue was just preoccupied and let things get out of control. Or at least that’s what Dad said. For a while there, he wouldn’t let me come around here.”

“Aw, you sound like you missed it,” Viv teases her.

“Yeah, and here I thought you wanted to escape the club and start over in Chicago,” I quip, making us laugh.

“Hey, you can take the girl out of the club, but you can’t take the club out of the girl.” Donna smirks.

“Cheers to that,” I say, raising my glass. When the other girls tap their glasses to mine, we all take a drink.

She’s right, though. For years I buried my head in the sand and pretended that it didn’t exist. That this clubhouse wasn’t a part of who I am, but there’s no denying it now. I’m meant to be here as long as Hayes is.

When someone knocks on the door to my office, I can’t help but groan. My concentration is absolute shit today, and I haven’t gotten through half of what I wanted to get done. All I want to do is track down Bailey and hang out with her, but I can’t. The club can’t afford for me to drop the ball. Not after everything with Rogue.

“Come in!” I yell as I toss my pen down onto the table.

Fang walks in and sits down across from me. He slouches in the chair and then props his boots up on the edge of my desk, making himself comfortable.

“How did the run go?” I ask.

He runs a hand through his hair. “As smooth as butter.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

“Any word on the next?”

“I actually need to reach out to them. They mentioned the possibility of doing two runs back to back.”

The them we are talking about is the Medina Cartel. We help them get their products from one point to another. We’re just a link in the chain. It’s profitable, though, and the Medinas offer a layer of protection for us since they don’t like people messing with their supplies.

Fang makes a face. “I don’t know how I feel about that. The chances of us getting caught go up if we do too much at once.”

“That’s one of my concerns. We would have to change meet-up locations with Saint’s,” I say, referring to the Saint’s Outlaws MC over in Pensacola, Florida.

They are a newer club but one with history. The majority of their leadership broke off from their main chapter in Boston, Massachusetts, and started over in the beach town.

“I’ll see if Gunner minds giving me Mac’s number so we can figure out a new route that works best for both of us,” he says.

Gunner is the VP of that club, and Mac is the Road Captain, like Fang.

“Works for me, but let me reach out to the Medinas first to make sure shit hasn’t changed.”

“Can do.”

“Did Gunner tell you anything interesting?”

“They are still having issues with the Crossbones,” he says, mentioning a club local to them that are a bunch of pricks.

“Will they go to war?”

Fang tilts his head as he thinks about it. “The chances are high. I think.”

“Are they worth deepening our alliances?”

“I like them. From what little I’ve been around them, they seem like a decent group, so it might be worth it.”

“Maybe we can see about setting something up. If we all get along, we can offer them our support if the time comes.”

“Cool, just let me know when you want me to mention it.”

“Can do.”

“What have I missed around here? I passed by Bailey on my way in.” Fang gives me a knowing look.

Sighing, I rub my hand over my face. “Yeah, I don’t think either of us are comfortable with being away from each other right now.”

“I don’t fucking blame you. If she was my woman, I would feel the same way. Do you guys even have any idea who this creep is that’s fucking with her?”

“No, and it’s pissing me the fuck off. I don’t know why shit is so complicated right now. Her stalker should be easy to figure out, finding Phillip should be easy, but none of it is.”

“Do you think it’s tied together?” he asks as he recrosses his boots on my desk.

“It could be, but I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, man, it’s a shit time for all this to be going down too.”

“It is what it is.” I sigh as I look at my desk. “I was trying to go over contracts for the businesses, but the words keep blurring on the page.”

“Are we still buying into the tire shop?”

I nod. “Yeah, it’s too good to pass up. For some fuckin’ reason, that guy is eager to make it happen. He passed the background check that Dex did, though, so there’s no reason to hold it up.”

“What about Bailey’s business? How did the talk with her dad go?”

“As good as you can expect when he sees me as the guy who broke his little girl’s heart.” I smirk. “In the end, though, he agreed.”

“Good. It’s going to be nice to have some more money rollin’ into this place.”

“No kidding. We need it. That fuckin’ strip club, though…” I wince thinking about it.

“Needs some work,” Fang says.

“Understatement. Are you sure you want a part in that? I have a feeling it’s going to be a goddamn headache.”

“Hey, I’m good with it. I learned enough in Vegas with our shit up there that it shouldn’t be an issue. The biggest problem we have ahead of us is getting new dancers and cleaning out the junkies.”

“Did I imagine it or did I see a pregnant stripper up on stage when we were walking out?”

Fang chuckles. “You did. That poor girl looked like she was about to pop. I had to get out of there before she tried to drop to the floor.”

“Why?” I ask, chuckling.

“I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to get back up. I’m a gentleman, so I would have had to offer her a hand to help her up.”

“And they say chivalry is dead,” I tease.

“I would have been covered in body glitter for it too. Girl had so much on she looked like a disco ball,” he says, making us laugh.

I groan and roll my shoulders back. “I really should get more shit done, but I don’t want to.”

Fang shrugs. “Then don’t. It’s not like it won’t keep until morning.”

“Yeah, but—”

Fang cuts me off. “No buts. Come hang with the boys and me. We can toss a few back and catch up. The guys need time with their pres.”

He’s right. It has been a minute since I’ve hung out with them. Shit, I don’t think I really have since Bailey showed up.

“You’re right.”

Fang cups his ear. “Can you repeat that? I don’t think I heard you right.”

I roll my eyes and stand. Reaching over, I knock his boots off my desk and point to the pile of dust that fell off them. “Clean that up.”

He rolls his eyes and swipes the dirt off onto the floor. “Happy now?” he says sarcastically.

“Ecstatic.”

I round the desk and he claps me on the shoulder. “Come on, Pres, let’s go knock a few back. I think we deserve it after the shit we’ve had going on lately.”