Pierce jumped in. “Let it go for now. Got enough other shit goin’ on than Axel gettin’ a boner over Bella.”
Diesel’s body visibly tightened and his face twisted into a scowl. Hawk crossed his beefy arms over his chest and sat back in his chair, clearly unhappy with the order.
Though no matter what their father or their president said, the brothers would always step in to protect their cousin. No question about it.
And because of that, Jag knew he had to be careful with what happens between him and Ivy, Bella’s sister. She wasn’t quite on their radar like Bella was, but it wouldn’t take but a misstep to put her there. And he didn’t need a hassle from either of them.
Jag might not be a small man and he made sure to keep in shape, but those two could pound him into the ground before he could say “boo.” Best to stay on their good side.
Pierce leaned back in his chair. “Maybe it’s time for a sit-down with the Knights. See if they’re willin’ to clue us in on what their intentions are. We don’t wanna be caught with our panties down ‘round our ankles.”
“That’s for damn sure,” Dex said.
Ace nodded. “Agreed.”
“All in favor?” Pierce asked.
“Ayes,” rose up around the table.
“If they’re not willing to chit chat, maybe we can get someone on the inside. One of Dawg’s girls or somethin’,” Dex suggested. “Just a thought.”
“Not sure if the Knights will easily accept an obvious stripper into their fold. But you never know,” Pierce said. “Pick a bitch that ain’t so obvious. But they might agree to a sit-down, we can go that route first.”
Dex continued, “If we need a plant, it’s gotta be one loyal to the club. No doubt. We ain’t takin’ them down, we’re just tryin’ to get a little info on their territory grab. But still need to send in snatch that ain’t gonna run her damn mouth. Not sure if we can trust one of Dawg’s girls for that.”
“Should we even ask for a sit-down first? Might give ‘em a heads up. Maybe send in a bitch, get some info, then ask for a sit-down once she’s clear,” Diesel suggested.
Pierce turned toward Diesel. “Handle it. Talk to Dawg, see if any of his girls are reliable enough. If not, we may have to approach this from a different angle.”
“Got it,” Diesel grunted.
“All right, enough of the fuckin’ bad news. This is a fuckin’ MC an’ we haven’t had a group ride in a while so we need to get on that.” Pierce looked pointedly at Jag. “Yo Road Captain, make it happen for Saturday. Got me?”
Jag nodded in agreement. “Gotcha. Certainly could use it. ‘Specially now the weather turned.”
A couple “yeahs” rose from the other members of the Executive Committee.
“Good. See it done. Hawk, plan a roast for after. Get the bitches to put somethin’ together. An’ get Mama Bear in the kitchen to make some good grub to go along with the hog.”
“Done,” Hawk grumbled, clearly still stewing about Bella and Axel.
Jag might have to give his cousin a heads up. Axel may be a cop, but he was still blood.
“We done here?” Pierce asked, looking around the table. When no one spoke up, he said, “Good,” and pounded the gavel on the table.
As everyone pushed back their chairs and filed out, Ace put a hand on Jag’s arm and tilted his head indicating for him to hold back.
Fuck.
Ace waited until the last member left the meeting room then turned his attention to Jag. “Brother, you’re like a son to me, but we need to have a sit-down of our own.”
“’Bout what?” Jag asked, but he knew.
He definitely knew.
Ivy probably ran her mouth to her uncle first thing this morning at the pawn shop.
“You showin’ up in the middle of the night at the apartment.”
“Wasn’t the middle of the night.”
Ace just gave him a look.
Jag shrugged and repeated, “Wasn’t.”
“No matter. You got her all jacked up this morning. Had to hear her bitchin’ for twenty minutes straight. What’s goin’ on between you two?”
“Nothin’.”
“Well, I know that’s bull. No reason for you to make yourself known every time she’s got some man in her place.”
There were plenty of reasons, just none he wanted to spill. “That don’t bother you?”
“Not my business."
Right. But if it was one of the brothers doing nightly visits to Ivy’s bed, Jag just bet Ace would make it his business. “I’m just lookin’ out for her like Hawk an’ D do for Bella. Bein’ protective.”
Ace snorted and shook his head. “Right.”
“Somebody’s gotta protect our women.”
“You know Dex is perfectly fine with watchin’ out for his sisters when it comes to that.”
“Dex don’t care who’s crawlin’ in an’ out of their beds.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t either.”
Damn.
Ace continued. “What’s your end game? ‘Cause you know I don’t want her endin’ up with a brother. Sure as shit don’t want her endin’ up like Bella did.”
Jag blinked. “That shit’ll never happen again. An’ it definitely wouldn’t happen with me.”
“So, you got interest,” Ace stated rather than asked.
Fuck. He fell right into that trap.
Nothing like looking a man he respected in the eye and telling him that he’s interested in fucking his niece, who was like a daughter to him. Ace might be in his fifties but he sired Hawk and Diesel, two very big guys. And the man was no slouch himself. Plus, he didn’t need bad blood between them, anyway.
“You got no problem with her apartment havin’ a revolvin’ door?”
That may have been the wrong thing to say. Ace’s eyes narrowed and his shoulders squared off.
Fuck.
“You sayin’ she’s as bad as a sweet butt?”
Holy fuck. She better not be as bad as one of the sweet butts, the eager women who hung around church to service any of the brothers whenever and wherever they wanted it. Most of them doing it in hopes of one day becoming an ol’ lady. Which, for most, would never happen. Brothers didn’t want to make a sweet butt an ol’ lady. Nobody wanted something permanent with what everyone else may have had.
“Not sayin’ that.”
“Good. But maybe the door would stop revolvin’ if you stopped chasin’ every guy she dates away.”
Dates. Right.
Ace continued, “Makes me think you’re hung up on her, Jag. Makes me wonder if I should take that key back I gave you for an emergency.”
“Haven’t abused that key. Always knock.”
“Yeah, probably have to paint the door to cover up that knock from last night.”
“You need it painted, I’ll get it done.”
Ace lifted his chin. “Yeah, I’ll let you know if the mark don’t come off. Then your ass can fix your fuck up.”
Next time, he’ll just use the key when Ivy refuses to open the door. That would really get her going.
“She gotta gun?”
Ace’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“Just askin’.”
“So, you plannin’ on interruptin’ her next time she’s got a date?”
“Yep.”
Ace dropped his head and shook it. His shoulders moved with what looked like laughter. “Fuck, boy. You’re lucky I like you.”
Jag smiled. “Know it, Ace. Promise I won’t ever hurt her.”
“Better not. ‘Cause I’ll kick your ass myself. An’ I’ll kick it if you repeat this, but somebody’s got to tame her wayward ways. She’s restless. She ain’t findin’ what she’s lookin’ for. That’s obvious by that ‘revolving door’ you mentioned. Maybe it’s high time a brother tried to get her to settle down.”
“So, I got your blessin’?” Jag asked, surprised at this sudden turn.
“Didn’t say that. An’ it all ain’t up to me.” Ace studied him for a mo
ment with his lips pursed and his hands on his hips, making Jag shuffle his feet uncomfortably. “You know she don’t do bikers. That’s gonna be a hurdle right there.”
Little did he know she already did one. Once. “Just needs to do one.”
Ace shook his head. “Right. If she don’t want you, you gotta drop this shit, hear me? An’ then let her figure out what she wants on her own.”
“Hear ya. Won’t be a problem.”
“Just want her to be happy.”
“You ain’t the only one,” Jag murmured.
“She’d have my nuts in a vise if she knew what we were talkin’ about.”
“No doubt. Don’t think that nerd last night had any nuts though.”
Ace snorted and slapped him on the back as they walked out of the meeting room into the common area of the clubhouse. “Surprised there wasn’t a line of shit from the balcony all the way out to his car.”
Jag grinned. “Yeah. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if he shit his pants.”
Chapter Two
The roar of the motorcycles making their way into the private parking lot behind the clubhouse made Ivy’s blood rush and nipples pebble.
She may tend to date anybody other than brothers, but there was nothing like a biker on a Harley to get her juices flowing. She frowned. Or one in particular.
Ivy stared into the bonfire. She wished she’d been able to ride along today. But without being one of the brothers’ “bitches” or ol’ ladies, her ass got left behind. Neither Diesel nor Hawk wanted their cousin hanging on their back, nor did most of the other brothers, they only wanted to haul around their own piece of ass. Otherwise, they wanted complete freedom from any female hanging on. If you weren’t putting out you were dead weight.
And it wasn’t like she could get her own bike and ride along with them. They would shit a brick if she tried that. If a female went along on one of the rides, it was on the back of a bike or not at all.
She could’ve asked Jag, but that would’ve made things worse between them; he already butted his nose into her business too much as it was.
Like the other night. That was the first and last date with that guy. They hadn’t even gotten to second base yet when Jag so rudely interrupted. Bad enough that Ivy hadn’t had any in a while. And by a while, she meant weeks, which was not the norm for her. She’d admit she loved sex and loved a lot of it. And though she may not like the misogynistic ways of bikers, she did like a man who took charge in the bedroom. And some of the guys she’d been dating lately just haven’t been doing it for her.
Well, for a little while there had been Adam, but suddenly he lost interest and never called her again.
She still had suspicions whether someone from the club intimidated him. She could never get an answer out of Adam himself. He had ignored all texts, calls, carrier pigeons and smoke signals she’d sent.
So finally, she had given up.
Her brother Dex said he knew nothing about it. In fact, he had actually liked Adam as compared to the rest of the nerd herd, as he called them, she normally dated. And Adam hadn’t been afraid to attend club parties like tonight, which had been a plus. Diesel and Hawk also acted like they didn’t know why Adam suddenly hightailed it out of her life and bed. As the man made his way across the courtyard, her eyes landed on who she thought was guilty.
Fucking Jag. His gaze fell on her as he made his way in her direction and she gave him a frown. He gave her an answering scowl, stopped his roll, and then changed course toward the kegs and coolers along the fence instead.
Good.
She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him right now, anyhow.
“You aren’t ever going to get anywhere with him if you constantly pinch your face up like that when you see him,” her sister Bella said as she approached, handing her another drink.
“I don’t want to get anywhere with him, so that isn’t a problem.” She tipped the red plastic cup to her lips and sipped to test the drink. Her sister made some awesome cocktails, but she had wasted her time and talent working behind the club’s bar at The Iron Horse Roadhouse. So recently she moved on to work with Zak’s ol’ lady, Sophie, at her bakery in town.
No one was surprised Bella was good at that, too.
“Sometimes I think I know you better than yourself,” Bella stated, settling herself into the chair next to her, staring into the bonfire.
Ivy needed to shut this line of conversation down and knew just how to do it. “How’s Axel?”
Bella took a sip from her own cup and frowned. Now who was frowning?
“Point taken,” Bella murmured. “You’re my baby sister, Ivy. I only want what’s best for you.”
“Yeah, and you think a brother’s it? That surprises me coming from you. Especially after all you went through.”
Ivy could see Bella’s jaw tighten in the glow from the fire. Fuck. She didn’t mean to hurt her sister. They just needed to get off the subject of men in general. “Was Sophie out riding with Z?”
“Yeah.”
“You bring anything good from the bakery?”
“Everything from the bakery is good,” her sister answered.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. A bunch of shit. I’ve been experimenting with filled cupcakes, so I brought along all the ‘oops’ and ‘whoops’ that I made.”
Ivy laughed. “Yeah, we’ll all suffer through getting rid of the evidence of your mistakes.”
Bella lifted a bare, tattooed shoulder. She had on her “Property of No One” shirt tonight. Ivy swore her sister had a closet full of them and she liked to wear them during the parties like this to remind the brothers, the prospects, and any of the hang-arounds that she belonged to no one and planned to keep it that way.
Ivy took a swallow of her drink again. It was sweet, but tangy, and went down way too easily. “What is this?”
“Long Island Iced Tea.”
“Fuck. Are you trying to get me messed up tonight?”
“Someone will give you a ride home. Ace can.”
“Ace said he and Janice were heading home after the ride, not sticking around.”
“Call Mom if no one else is available.”
The last person she was calling was their mother to come pick her up like she was some teenager. “What about you?”
“I’m drinking the same thing you are.”
“How are you getting home?”
Bella didn’t answer.
“Bella,” Ivy nudged.
“I’ll find a ride.”
Ivy studied her sister for a moment. Her suspicion was correct when Bella avoided her eyes. “If they see him anywhere on club property, there may be a problem.”
“Yeah,” Bella said softly, then took another long drink from her cup.
Ivy sighed. Both of them wanted men they shouldn’t or couldn’t have. Bella, a brother in blue, Ivy, a brother she shouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole—a fucking hundred-foot pole—and not remain her own woman.
Ivy followed her sister’s example and downed a good portion of her drink.
She turned her head toward the makeshift “stage” in the large, grassy courtyard where the band was warming up now that Nash got back from the all-day ride.
“Gonna get loud soon,” Bella murmured.
“The band or the brothers?”
Bella let out a little laugh. “Both. And then the sweet butts and Dawg’s girls will be out in full force grinding against whoever lets them. Expect a bunch of loud moanin’ and groanin’.”
“Yeah,” Ivy laughed, bumping her shoulder into her sister’s. “Oooh, Diesel, let me pump your piston,” Ivy mocked in a falsetto voice. “Please, let me smoke your exhaust pipe, D!”
“You called?” came from behind them and Ivy jumped, her eyes wide. She turned to face her cousin.
“Just wondering if you’re hijacking the bathrooms tonight since you’re too lazy to take them upstairs.”
“Don’t want them in my bed. Hard to get ‘em back out,
” he grumbled.
“Yeah, the bathroom’s so romantic, D.”
Diesel snorted. “Ain’t nothin’ romantic ‘bout what they’re offerin’.”
“You don’t have to accept,” Ivy reminded him.
“Right,” he grunted.
“At least leave the little girls’ room open, please. Use the men’s room,” Bella suggested.
Diesel swatted a big beefy hand toward them and stalked away. D was going to do what D was going to do and no one would tell him otherwise.
Even so, all the women were tired of walking in on Diesel doing some random woman against the ladies’ room wall. Ivy didn’t think there were any females left who hung out at the club that didn’t know what Diesel’s naked ass looked like. She wasn’t thrilled with knowing what her cousin’s rear end looked like, either.
“Looks like someone’s already going at it,” Bella stated, jerking her chin toward the open pavilion.
Ivy followed her gaze to see she was right. Two people—she couldn’t tell who—were already bumping uglies on one of the picnic tables in full view of everyone. Not that anyone cared. She sighed. As long as it wasn’t Jag and Goldie, one of Dawg’s trashy-assed strippers, she didn’t care, either.
She might have to wander closer and make sure it wasn’t.
No. Even if it was, she didn’t give a shit. He could do whoever he wanted. Even that skank Goldie.
Ivy downed the remainder of her drink and stared into her empty cup in disappointment.
“Another?” Bella asked.
“Yeah. I’d make it myself but you’re the pro.”
Bella snagged the plastic cup from her fingers. “That I am. Be right back.”
As soon as the seat next to her was empty, Jewel slipped into the chair, a beer bottle hanging from her fingers and a large smile on her face as she stared at the pavilion.
“Someone’s really going at it over there. Sounds like a hyena in heat.”
Ivy glanced over toward the pavilion again. “Know who it is?”
“No. Ain’t Jag though.”
Her gaze bounced back to Jewel. “Wouldn’t care if it was your brother.”
“Right.” Jewel answered with a smirk. “Whoever it is, I’m jealous. I haven’t gotten any in a while.”
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