Page 5 of Stripping Keys (Devil’s Riot MC Tennessee #6)

CHAPTER FOUR

MARLA

“That didn’t go as planned.” West grunts from behind the wheel, heading back to the hotel.

“Went just about as to be expected,” I mutter, focusing on the view out the passenger window. “Let’s just get our stuff and get out of here before they come to find us.”

“You think we’ll actually make it out of town?

” West snorts.I glance over in his direction to see him shaking his head.

He taps a finger on the steering wheel. “Maybe we should just head out, not worry about our stuff. Go trade this one in for one of our cars before we meet with Calyx. We could even have him send one of his men to get our stuff from the hotel.”

“I’ll text him,” I say, liking the idea of it all. The last thing I need or want is to have to deal with any of the men from the club, not after that bullshit show.

Pulling my phone out of my bag, I find Calyx’s number at the top of my contacts right under my mom, dad, and siblings. And of course, West. I type out a text and read it twice.

Me: Things didn’t go well at the meeting. Need you to send someone to get our stuff. We’ll meet you later to go over everything.

Hitting send, I set the phone on my lap and stare out the window, refusing to think about what Keys said or the reactions of my dad and brother. None of them know me, and it seems seeing me bringing them the intel I did was something they didn’t expect.

A moment passes into another before my phone pings in my lap. Lifting my phone, I read the message on display. It’s not from Calyx like I thought, but rather Keys.

Keys: Don’t even think about leaving town, woman. If you make me search for you, I’m going to make it so you won’t be able to sit for a week.

My ass spasms at the very thought.

The bitch in me reacts in a similar way that I’m sure will irritate Keys when he reads my message.

Me: Guess you’ll have to put your money where your mouth is. Catch me if you can.

Smiling, I hit send, a giggle slipping past my lips just as my phone pings again. This time it’s not Keys, but Calyx.

Calyx: Ditch the car. We’ll take care of your hotel. Meeting is moved to the morning.

I read it aloud as another text from Calyx comes in.

Calyx: You made a hell of a mess with the club, Mar. Not something to be easily fixed. The women are at the clubhouse now, and Marley is livid. She and Marshall are verbally sparring. Griz looks like he’s about to commit murder on Marley’s behalf.

Guess our being at the clubhouse got more of a reaction than we thought it would. Calyx is at the clubhouse now. Says we’ve made a hell of a mess.” I snicker and toss the phone in my bag. I knew Keys wouldn’t be able to trace it. It’s untraceable without the program needed to be able to do so.

West does as Calyx told us, driving the car somewhere for us to ditch it.

From there, we find another one and make our way back home, where we both get a couple of hours of sleep before getting up to drive all the way back, but this time in our own cars.

Since we’re already in town once, no reason for us not to take our cars.

Granted, mine is one none of them had ever seen me in before.

I also took my spare when meeting up with my family, but driving my Camaro shouldn’t be a surprise.

It’s flashy, and I do love to be flashy. Or that’s what they think.

Soothing my hands over the steering wheel, I savor the purring of the engine and listen to the music playing on the playlist connected to my phone. The song playing now, “Dirt on it” makes me think of everything going on right now.

Couldn’t things be simple for once in my life?

With a heavy sigh, I allow myself to get as comfortable as I can while driving. As much as I would have loved to have had more sleep, there wasn’t time for me to have what I needed. I’ll just crash after West and I meet with Calyx.

By the time we make it back to town, the sun is just peeking over the horizon, the couple of hours of sleep were waning on me. All I want to do is get into a bed and pass right the hell out. Too bad that won’t happen, not until after this meeting with Calyx is done.

Maybe once West and I talk to him, I can go check back into the hotel and sleep like the dead. Unfortunately, my gut is telling me that won’t be happening anytime soon. I’ve always been good about listening to my gut. I won’t be ignoring it now.

Turning off the main road leading toward the address Calyx texted to meet at, my gut starts to tighten even more. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but whatever it is won’t be good.

I come to a stop in the driveway of a house that sits on the edge of a tree line. There are two more houses sitting about a hundred yards to the side.

This isn’t the typical type of location Calyx has us meet him at. Usually, it’s a cabin or at his headquarters. Not a house like this. I’m tempted to put the car in reverse and get the hell out of here, but before I can do just that, West is parking right behind me.

Why the hell would he do that? There’s plenty of room to park next to me.

Whatever the reason, it’s too late now. Calyx steps out onto the porch.

Never before have I seen him without a shirt on.

I watch him as he leans against the railing of the porch and sips from a coffee mug.

His eyes were locked on me, and with his free hand, he crooked a finger that meant none other than bring your ass up here now.

I suck in a breath and climb out from behind the wheel. West is right there waiting for me.

“Come on,” he grumbles. “I need coffee.”

“Coffee? Ha, I need sleep,” I retort with a grumble. “What’s with meeting him here? There are other houses around.”

“Don’t know. He didn’t tell me anything. Just said we were to meet him at this address.” West shrugs and guides me to the steps. “Calyx, tell me there’s more of that somewhere inside.”

“Two mugs filled and ready for you both on the counter next to the coffee pot,” Calyx grunts and takes another sip of his coffee, eyes still on me.

“I’ll get them,” West states and heads inside.

“Keep quiet,” Calyx orders. “Meadow’s still sleeping and doesn’t need to be woken up.”

I stiffen at the mention of Calyx’s long-lost daughter.

“Why is Meadow here?” I ask, watching him closely. He doesn’t do anything without a reason.

“This is her and Nines’s house,” he answers without missing a beat.

Great.

Just freaking great.

The last thing I need is to deal with a member of the club here. Not when I don’t have my guards fully up in place.

“So, you decided to have this meeting here at your daughter and son-in-law’s place rather than at the usual spots. Seriously?”

“Considering this has to do with my daughter and with her being pregnant now, yeah, we’re doing this here. Nines and Blow are inside already.”

Nines and Blow.

“Did you tell the rest of the club I’d be here as well?” Anger starts to rise inside me.

“No,” he answers, keeping calm. He takes another sip of coffee and straightens from the post. “Neither man knows of our dealings together. They just know we know each other and that we work together from time to time. I haven’t told them anything more.

What I did share with them is that if they want to hear anything from you, it would be the two of them and no one else.

No one is to know about this meet except them. ”

“And they agreed?”

“Of course, they did. They’re not stupid men.” Calyx scoffs and jerks his chin toward the door. “Come on inside, Mar, let’s get some coffee in you, get this done, and you can crash out in one of the guest rooms.”

“I’ll take the coffee, but I’m not crashing here. I’ll go back to the hotel,” I mutter, stepping past him.

“Doubt you’d make it to the hotel.” As softly as the words are on his lips, I almost question if I heard him correctly or not.

Regardless, I brush them off and head inside.

Time to get this done with and hope like hell there’s no more surprises in store for me.

Calyx follows behind me. Close behind me. Guess to make sure I head for the kitchen and not for any other way to escape this meet altogether.

Knowing there’s no way to get out of this, I head for where West is standing against the counter and the coffee he’s holding out toward me.

“No reason to fight it, Mar. Leave the bitch out of this one, just like if it were just another day of us meeting with Calyx,” he states, eyes locked with mine. “You playing bitch doesn’t need to happen here.”

“You two sit down,” Calyx orders quietly and takes a seat himself.

West moves to take a seat that leaves me seated between him and Calyx.

Interesting.

Not really.

He’s got a way of making sure I feel safe and secure when I’m not feeling that way in the least.

Across the table sit Nines and Blow. Both men were watching me closely. Eyes assessing. I could see the wheels turning in their heads. They had a lot of questions, none of those questions were any I wanted to answer.

To make matters worse, I knew what they saw when they looked at me right now.

I thought this meeting was just with Calyx or maybe his team.

It’s why I didn’t put makeup on while we crashed out at home.

I washed what I’d had on off and moisturized.

Meaning now they could see the scar on my face I’m always careful to hide.

I just hope they’ll be able to keep it to themselves. The last thing I want to do is answer a bunch of questions from people who don’t need to know anything about how I got them. My secrets are mine, not theirs.

“Gentlemen,” I mutter and take a sip of my coffee. At the first taste of the heavenly elixir, I moan. There was no way I couldn’t. It was that good. “What type of coffee is this? It’s heaven.”

“Right!” West states enthusiastically. “I’ve got to have some to take home with me.”

“Coffee is a local,” Nines states. “Meadow found it, and now, it’s the only thing she’ll drink. Thankfully, they also had a decaf version of it.”