“Where we at, Whisper?” Wrath asks.
“Voted this morning. We don’t want any action in Ironworks. We got our own ventures we’re committed to. But Merlin got us into some things and I need him to get us out,” Whisper explains.
Rock glances at me and I let Whisper know what it’s going to cost him. “That’s fine. I need some answers from Merlin about a couple things, though. That gonna be a problem?” I ask.
“He’s staying in lock-up for the time-being,” Whisper says. “But when I can, I’ll make him available to you.”
“Is that acceptable?” Rock asks me, and I nod my agreement.
Whisper pulls an envelope out of his cut and hands it to me. “I think this is yours.”
I recognize it as the money I gave Merlin to pay off Charlotte’s loan and take it. “Thank you.”
“We done here?” Rock asks.
I lean in and lower my voice. “I’d like to have a word with Whisper.”
Rock nods, giving me the okay to speak to the Wolf Knights’ President.
“He’s got a few questions,” Rock says.
Whisper jerks his head toward some picnic benches and we walk away from our brothers.
“You got something on your mind, Teller?”
“What other clubs were you doing business with six or seven years ago?”
Whisper stops, turning to stare at me. I shouldn’t be asking about their club’s business.
“What’s this about?”
“What clubs would have been invited to one of your Christmas parties back then?”
He narrows his eyes at my persistence. “You need to give me some context, Teller.”
“A party Charlotte attended.”
His brow wrinkles and he takes a step back. “Someone hurt her? In our clubhouse?”
I nod once.
“Shit, Teller. I don’t know. I’m always down in Florida that time of year.”
Another dead end. “I figured you didn’t know.”
“Wait a minute.” Whisper narrows his eyes. “You saying Merlin knew she got hurt? And never handled it?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
He kicks the toe of his boot into the dirt a few times. “Fuck. I’ll see if I can ask some of the other boys and find out.”
“Thank you.”
He holds out his hand and I shake it.
I guess Merlin lives to see another day.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“You got a few minutes?” Rock asks after Whisper and his crew leave.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Need to talk to you for a bit. In private.”
Well, that doesn’t sound ominous or anything.
“Follow me back to the house.” He nods at Murphy. “You too.”
It’s not unusual for Rock to ask us to stop by his old house. Bricks and his family rent the place now, but Rock kept his custom bike shop there. He and Bricks work out of the garage.
I haven’t been there in a while now.
For the briefest second I wonder if I’m in trouble.
Murphy and I follow Rock. As much as I love this old bike, and have all sorts of warm, fuzzy, sentimental memories attached to it, the suspension is non-existent and I feel every bit of Empire’s poorly maintained roads. Something I don’t think I gave much thought to before my accident.
The gate at Rock’s house is open and we ride into the driveway, stopping outside the garage.
Rock meets me at my bike.
“How’s it feel?” A hint of amusement twitches at the corner of his mouth.
“Honestly, a little rough.”
“We should probably find you something else.”
Murphy claps a hand over my shoulder. “Nah, that piece of shit is older than he is. He loves that thing. He doesn’t want to upgrade.”
These two are definitely up to something.
Rock strides over to the garage and lifts the door. “That’s too bad.” He gestures toward the HD Low Rider S in the middle of the garage. “Had a weekend rider bring this in after some cager tapped the rear. Guy decided riding was too scary after that. I bought it off him, thinking I’d find a home for it.”
Murphy moves around the machine, running his hand over the two-up gray leather seat with blue stitching and glances up. His raised eyebrow and subtle smirk communicate that I’m being set up.
“Am I the home for it?” I take a few steps closer, taking in more and more details. It’s gorgeous and my fingers are already itching to wrap around the specially upgraded grips.
Rock shrugs, completely casual. As if this isn’t a huge gift.
I’m stunned stupid.
“You like it?” Rock asks.
Like it?
Still too stunned to speak, I bob my head up and down a few times.
“I love it.” Jesus, now isn’t the time for my throat to tighten up and my words to get lodged in my throat. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
He slaps my shoulder and pulls me into his side. “Always thinking of you, knucklehead.”
Now that my brain’s starting to function again, I narrow my eyes and take in more details. All the custom modifications that just happen to be so perfectly tailored to my tastes.
“Someone traded this in?” I ask.
Rock senses the suspicion in my tone and smirks. “Yeah.”
“And it just happened to be club colors and have all the mods and upgrades I’d pick out for myself?”
He gestures to Murphy and shrugs. “Murphy and I might have made a few adjustments.”
“Rock, this must’ve cost a lot. Let me—”
He stops me with a hard stare. “Are you rejecting a gift from your president?”
“No, but it’s too much.”
He shakes his head. “It can never make up for…everything, but it’s my way to say I’m glad you’re riding again.”
Way too many emotions bubble up inside me to respond. I turn to Murphy instead. “How long you been helping him with this, you sneaky ginger?”
He just laughs.
“Actually, we can’t take all the credit. The whole club helped.”
Yeah, since no one asked me to withdraw any funds, I know the guys paid for this out of their own pockets. Or more likely Rock paid for it out of his own pocket and is giving the club credit so it doesn’t seem like a big deal.
“You can leave the XR here. I’ll have someone trailer it up to the property for you.” Rock says.
I cock my head. “You sure you’re not going to junk it on me?”
“Didn’t even cross my mind,” he says with a smirk. “All kidding aside, I’ll take care of it.”
“Are you going to show it to Charlotte?” Murphy asks.
I’ll admit, after the shock wore off, sharing this with Charlotte was the first thing that came to mind. But the thought of having her on the back—having anyone I care about sitting there again—still leaves me uncertain.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. Baby steps, Prez.”
He pulls me in for another hug and slaps me on the back a few times. “Go ahead. Give it a try.”
Eager to get my hands on it, I flip the switch and start it up. “Sounds great.”
I straddle it and mess around with the gauges, get comfortable with the seat and foot pegs. “You coming, Prez?”
“You two go ahead, I have a few things to take care of here. Tell everyone else to be ready to sit down at the table when I get there.”
Murphy starts his bike. “Ready?” he shouts over the combined noise of our engines.
I am.
This ride’s a completely different experience. Much smoother. Just as loud, but a more deliberate rumble.
On the way back to the clubhouse, I notice a “for sale” sign at the end of a long driveway. Instinct has me signal to Murphy that I’m turning in and he follows.
He pulls alongside me. “What the fuck?”
I get his concern. Showing up unannounced in someone’s drivewa
y in rural New York, is a good way to get an ass full of buckshot.
Still, we keep going.
Ahead, a large farmhouse comes into view. White with green trim. A three-car garage to the right. A smaller house and another outbuilding farther back.
No cars in the driveway. No one on the porch with a shotgun.
We shut our bikes down. “What’re we doing here?” Murphy asks.
“I wanted to see what’s down here. This place is close to our property. Never really noticed it before.”
“Some yuppies from the city probably own it.”
I point to the front door. “Looks like it’s in foreclosure.”
“Then they probably stripped the place bare before they got kicked out.”
We walk around the house, checking out the garage and other buildings.
“What’s on your mind?” Murphy asks.
“Just curious. I want to look it up on an aerial map. See if it butts up against our property line.”
He shrugs.
“Let’s go back and look it up.”
The ride back to the clubhouse did a lot to clear my head. Because we stopped off to look at the house, Rock makes it to the clubhouse before us. We back our bikes into line and Rock meets us.
“Where’d you two go?”
“Took the long way home,” I answer before Murphy spills. For some reason, I want to keep my interest in the house to myself.
Charlotte’s still out with Heidi. Sparky and Stash are waiting upstairs, and we all file into the war room to sit down and discuss what we learned this morning.
Rock silences everyone by rapping his knuckles against the wood table. “All right, had our talk with Whisper. He’s been voted in as president. Merlin has had his officer patches stripped, but they haven’t kicked him out of the club yet.”
“That’s fucking bullshit!” Dex explodes.
“Simmer down,” Rock says. “Not our call to make.”
“They gonna let Teller have a piece of him?” Ravage asks.
“When the time’s right.”
Wrath sits forward so he can see everybody. “Whisper claims Merlin pulled the club into some deals that not everyone was on board with. He says they need him to get out of those deals.” Wrath turns to me. “What did you guys talk about?”
My gaze slides to Rock before answering. “I asked him to try to get some information for me. I gave him an idea of what happened. He was pretty upset. I don’t think he knew. He was going to look into it.” My hands tighten into fists in front of me. “I’ll fuckin’ beat it out of Merlin if I have to. Charlotte needs to know the truth. And that fucker’s hiding something.”
“I wouldn’t let her go talk to him alone.”
“Wasn’t planning to.” By the look on Wrath’s face, it’s obvious Charlotte’s safety isn’t his only concern. “She won’t try to finish the job if I explain that his club needs him breathing for the time being. Obviously, you know we can trust her.”
“No, I don’t,” Wrath says. He gestures to everyone at the table. “None of us have spent a lot of time around her.”
“Whose fault is that?” I shoot back.
Next to me Z places his hand on my arm. “Easy, bro.”
“Hear me out,” Wrath says. “We’re taking a run down to Sway’s next weekend. Bring her along.”
Rock snorts. “We gotta stop using Tawny as some sort of old lady approval system.”
“It will give her a chance to interact with the girls. And around another chapter.” Wrath says, ignoring Rock’s comment.
I hate like hell admitting in front of all my brothers that I’m not ready to have someone on the back of my bike yet. Instead, I nod. “She doesn’t have a patch yet.”
“I’ll get her a T-shirt,” Z promises.
Sparky raises his hand practically wiggling out his chair. “Boss! Boss, I want to go too.”
All heads turn in Sparky’s direction. “And leave your plants?” Wrath asks, and for once I don’t think he’s just being a cocky asshole.
“Stash can handle it for a couple days.”
“You bringing anyone special, Sparky?” Z asks.
“No. I haven’t been there in a while. Last time he was here, Sway said he wanted to set up a small grow opp for personal use. Figure I’ll go down and help him with that.
“Sounds good,” Rock says. He turns his gaze to Murphy. “You coming?”
We already know the answer, but it’s nice of Rock to ask. “I was just there. I’m good, Prez.”
Rock nods. “You and Heidi can hold down the fort.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After church, I grab Murphy before he runs off to find my sister. “You got a minute?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
Too many brothers are still in the clubhouse. I jerk my head toward the stairs. Murphy follows me up to my room.
He doesn’t crack any of the usual jokes. Instead, he seems concerned. “What’s wrong?”
Before answering I run my hands through my hair a couple times. “I’m not comfortable yet having Charlotte on the back of my bike,” I say in a rush. Feeling like a fucking pussy here. Murphy nods in understanding and keeps the jokes to himself.
“Why don’t we go for a short ride tonight when the girls get back?” he suggests.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“That accident wasn’t your fault, bro. No one’s running you off the road while I’m around. I always got your back,” Murphy says.
“I know you do.”
“Charlotte even like to ride?”
“Shit, I think so. Guess we’ll find out.”
The door to Murphy’s room slams shut. As Heidi and Charlotte’s voices filter through, Murphy squirms. “Damn, these walls are thin,” he mutters, staring at the floor.
“No fucking shit, asshole.”
He sniggers and glances at the door. “Do you want to go for that ride now that the girls are home?”
It’s almost as if he’s worried I’ll back out or something.
“Yeah, I’d rather go while it’s still daylight.”
Charlotte’s standing outside my door about to knock when we open it. She takes a step back her lips curling into a smile. “There’s a joke in here somewhere,” she says. “And here I thought I’d have to worry about finding bunnies in your room, not Murphy.”
Murphy gives my shoulder a have-fun-with-that pat. “Where’re my girls at?” he asks.
Charlotte nods toward his room. “Alexa’s still out with Hope. Heidi’s in your room changing. She spilled milkshake all down the front of her shirt.”
A growl erupts from Murphy and he leaves without saying anything else.
“Get in here.” I pull her inside and press her up against the back of my door. Fitting my hands over her hips, I stare into her eyes. “You want to explain that bunny comment?”
Her lashes flutter and she looks away. “I was just kidding.”
“Don’t kid about stuff like that.”
She loops her arms around my neck. “Sorry.”
“Did you miss me?”
She nods vigorously. “Am I allowed to ask how the meeting with Whisper went?”
Having her pinned up against the door like this has my mind on things other than the Wolf Knights. “There isn’t much to tell, honestly. They voted Merlin out as president. Whisper is in.” That’s something Charlotte can easily find out on her own, so I don’t consider it club business I need to hold onto. “Your uncle is alive and well for the time being.”
“That’s good, I guess.”
I raise an eyebrow. “After what he did? Really?”
“I’m not saying I want to have him over for Thanksgiving. But I still need to get some information from him.” She looks away and softly adds, “He’s unfortunately my last connection to my parents. To my dad.” She shakes her head. “Fuck. I see this all the time with my clients. Some of my most abused children remain the most loyal to their parents. I never understand it. And here I
am the same way.”
I slide my hands over her shoulders and squeeze. “You have a good heart. And I love that about you.”
She meets my eyes. “Thank you.” After a deep breath, she prompts me to finish telling her about the meeting.
“I gave Whisper the gist of what happened to you,” I say carefully, waiting to see what her reaction will be.
Her cheeks turn pink and she tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth. “And?”
“I got the impression he didn’t know. He wasn’t happy about it that’s for sure. He promised to see what he can find out.”
“Thank you.”
Next-door, there’s a thud followed by a rattling noise and then a steady thumping. “Godfuckingdammit! Seriously?” I shout, picking up a sneaker and hurling it against the wall.
Charlotte bursts out laughing. “Aw, it’s sweet that they can’t keep their hands off each other.”
Groaning, I take her hand. “It is not sweet. It’s fucking disturbing.” I give her a gentle tug. “Come on. I want to show you something outside. I can’t listen to this shit.”
“Oh, I figured you’d want to rattle your own headboard.” She barely gets the words out before they’re swallowed up with her giggles.
I yank her closer. “After listening to that, I couldn’t get it up if I tried.”
More laughter. “Oh, I bet you could.” She glances at the wall and wrinkles her nose. “Maybe not. Let’s go.”
More unholy noises burst out of their room once we’re in the hallway. “Jesus. Fuck,” I grumble, hurrying down the stairs.
Outside, I walk her to the neat row of bikes parked along the fence and stop in front of the one I still can’t believe is mine. “What do you think?”
“You bought this today?”
“Rock gave it to me.” I shove my hands in my pockets and lift my shoulders. “It’s like a ‘glad you’re riding again’ present.”
“That’s some present.” She studies it closer, walking around to the opposite side. “I like the paint. He must’ve put a lot of work into it. The blacked-out forks, brushed chrome. A lot of upgrades. The shotgun exhaust is nice.” She leans down and runs her hand over the straight pipes. “High enough not to scrape every time you make a right-hand turn.”