Arriving at his door, I lifted my hand, and after a brief hesitation, I knocked.
“What?”
I jumped a little when he barked out the question and wondered if I should just go. But instead, I pushed open the door about halfway and looked inside. He was seated at his desk, his eyes on the laptop in front of him. His beard had grown in and was a little fuller than it had been when I knew him, but other than that, he seemed the same.
Or at least I thought he was.
Until he looked up, and his expression was completely void of emotion.
“What?”
Swallowing hard, I pushed through the small opening and stood just inside his office. “Sorry to bother you.”
He slowly stood from his chair, but his stare wasn’t friendly. “What do you need?”
I pushed the door closed but paused and took a deep breath. After six months without him, I thought I wouldn’t feel anything anymore, but when a shiver rolled over my body, I knew I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Swallowing hard, I gestured to the door behind me. “I was driving by when I saw Dominic outside. I stopped, and he told me you gave him this job and are helping him to save money.” I took another step into the room. “Thank you for doing that for him. He looks happier than I’ve ever seen him.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “He’s a good kid.”
“He is,” I agreed but then tilted my head. “Why are you helping him?”
He continued to stare at me, but his expression remained blank, and I wondered how he was capable of that when I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest.
“We do community shit like this all the time.”
My eyebrows drew together. “But you chose Dominic.”
“Just a kid who needed help, that’s all.”
I nodded when something Dominic said occurred to me. “Dominic told me he was into some bad stuff, and you got him out.”
“That’s his story to tell, not mine.”
“Yeah.” It was obvious he wasn’t going to say more. I could only assume he’d intervened because he’d seen a kid headed for trouble. “Okay, well, I just wanted to thank you for whatever you did to help him. I ran out of options, and it sounds like you swooped in at the right time.” I tucked a piece of hair that had come loose from my short ponytail behind my ear. “I appreciate it.”
He jerked up his chin, and I thought we were done. Turning, I reached for the doorknob and only paused when he spoke again. “Heard you’ve been spending time with Becs.”
I turned back around and smiled. “Yeah. She and Maggie come over to my apartment. They bring Wyatt too. He’s doing so well. She said he’s catching up to other kids in his age range.”
Bear nodded. “Need you to do somethin’.”
“Sure,” I agreed too eagerly.
“Becs likes you. Don’t toss her when she does something to piss you off. She deserves better than that.”
I didn’t expect his words, and they hit me somewhere deep before I could get control. I swallowed back some tears threatening to fall at his abrupt comment and nodded, but I’d long since averted my eyes so he couldn’t see how much he affected me. I didn’t have any words to offer. We were never going to see eye to eye on why I distanced myself from him or his club. I was grateful he’d helped Dominic, but it was beyond time for me to leave. I had a camp full of kids who would be waking soon and waiting for me. I’d moved past this. I’d already dealt with my grief and guilt, and I wasn’t going to allow him to force me to do it all over again.
I took and deep breath and exhaled before grabbing the doorknob behind me, turning and pulling open the door.
Then I walked out into the hallway and closed it tightly behind me.
Effectively closing the door to that part of my life.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
BEAR
The knock on my office door had pissed me off, but then again, everything had been pissing me off over the past six months. I was surprised we even had members left in our club after the way I’d been barking at everyone. It was a nightmare keeping tabs on the woman I wanted and couldn’t have, but I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t trust anyone other than the men in my club to watch over her while navigating this new deal with the Widows. The fact that it was going smoothly only made me suspicious that I’d missed something.
I’d held on to Skinner’s information regarding the drug business Snap was running and waited to see if it slowed down once changes were made in the Widows. From what I could see, Hawk was doing exactly what he’d promised. He’d cleaned up the Widows club in New Hope and nationally, getting rid of the ones who’d favored and followed Viper. We weren’t naïve and knew they would find another club to be a part of, but we hoped we’d gained an ally in the Widows if we ever had to defend our club. And with Hawk at the helm, they’d gained an ally in us.
My hope had been that Hawk would oust Snap entirely, but he hadn’t. That fact had caused me even more suspicion, so I played my final card. I provided all the information I had to Luke, who opened an investigation. He’d been investigating for a while, and even as impatient as I was, I understood that shit took time. When he finally told me he was close to making an arrest, I invited Hawk to town and set up a meeting with him, inviting Luke to join us. Inviting a cop to a meeting with a Widow was a risky move, but I needed to shut down Snap and his drug business, and I couldn’t do that on my own.
When a knock sounded on the door a few minutes ago, I’d expected it to be Gunner. He was sitting in on the meeting, and we’d be leaving soon to meet Luke and Hawk at Joe’s, but when the door opened, and Josie walked through, it felt like someone had punched me in the gut. Fuck, she looked good. I’d like to say I’d forgotten how beautiful she was, but I wasn’t that lucky. Even if I hadn’t been keeping an eye on her, I would’ve remembered. Never had a woman gotten under my skin like Josie Carmichael, and I was smart enough to know she was staying there.
I’d walked out of her apartment six months ago, intending to forget her and move on. She’d proven she wouldn’t or couldn’t understand our way of life, and keeping her close would only hurt us in the long road.
But I couldn’t seem to let her go.
When she waltzed her ass in here this morning in her shorts and T-shirt after talking with Dominic, I saw the Josie who’d sat on a stool and drank with Bull. I saw the Josie who’d risked her own safety to follow a kid who was getting himself into trouble. And I saw the Josie who loved without apology or expectations. She was heading to that camp again, where she’d spend the next twelve hours smiling and laughing with kids who meant more to her than they did to anyone else. She gave them her entire self, and I wanted that. Selfishly, I wanted the love she had for them to be directed at me. I wanted the pass she gave them for bad choices and her unwavering support when she knew they were trying to be better.
I not only wanted that, but I needed it.
She made me hold myself accountable for decisions I’d been making, which only forced me to continue steering this club in the right direction. I’d made a mistake with Skinner, but I’d been angry. Angry that he would lie to us and even more so that I hadn’t seen it earlier. My job as the club’s president was to see danger before it crossed our threshold so I could keep our members safe, but I’d missed it.
He’d beaten me, and my ego led to my retaliation.
And though we needed to make a statement around Skinner’s disloyalty, I should’ve thought about how I wanted the club to handle disloyalty instead of falling back on old habits. Habits that contradicted what we wanted to become, and worse, it happened in my office where anyone could’ve walked in. The domino effect for that one mistake had taken months to clean up.
A loud knock pulled me from my thoughts, and I realized I was still standing in the same spot I had been when Josie walked out. Shaking my head, I called out, “Come in.”
The door pushed open, and this time, my eyes landed on the man I’d e
xpected to see the last time. He tipped his chin before closing the door behind him and putting his hands on his hips.
“Ran into Dom.”
I tugged my hand through my hair roughly. “Yeah.”
“Said Josie stopped by.”
“She did,” I agreed. “Saw him working outside and pulled in. He told her.”
Gunner’s eyebrows rose. “All of it?”
“Don’t think so.” I leaned my hip against the side of the desk. “At least she didn’t mention Colson or the drugs.”
“That’s probably good.”
“Yeah.” He wanted to ask more, but I wasn’t allowing that. We needed to get moving and clean up this damn business while we could. “Let’s go.”
He stepped to the side while I grabbed my shit from the desk and followed me outside. I raised my hand in a wave when I spotted Dominic. “Be back, kid.”
“Okay.”
I peered past him and saw Tank, who jerked up his chin in my direction. I’d called him in to be here while both Gunner and I were gone because I didn’t like Dominic being in the garage alone, especially not with Colson and Snap still around.
With any luck, that would change very soon.
Throwing our legs over our bikes, we started them and headed into town. The drive was short and hot as hell. Summer in North Carolina was a bitch, but I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. After pulling into the small parking lot of Joe’s, we hopped off our bikes and headed inside without a word. The place was dead, but we’d expected that when we’d chosen the time to meet. I spotted Luke right away and headed toward the tall square table toward the back of the cafe. Maddie was doing a lot to make this place more welcoming for people who wanted to sit down and eat, and as far as I could tell, she was doing a hell of a good job.
Luke stood and held out his hand, shaking ours before we all sat. I took the stool facing the door so I could see when Hawk came in. I had no doubt he knew who Luke Dimarco was, but there was no way in hell he’d just walk to the table where he was seated.
“He in town?” Luke inquired, but I didn’t have time to answer before the bell on the door rang.
My eyes snapped forward, and I watched Hawk walk in, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on mine. He started toward us, but I knew the second he saw Luke because his eyes narrowed.
Standing, I held out my hand, which he took. I gestured toward Luke. “You know Luke Dimarco?”
“Do I know the cop in town who has a history with the Widows?” He snorted. “Yeah, I fucking know him.”
Luke appeared casual. However, I’d gotten to know him over the years, and he was anything but. His history with the Widows was violent, especially after one of the members shot him, but he persevered because his intention was to get Maggie out, and he did. With our help. Which was half the reason we were in the position we were, but knowing that, we’d still make the same decision today.
Luke held out his hand, and Hawk shook it before sliding onto the stool beside me. He jerked up his chin at Gunner, but they shared no words. They’d met at the last meeting, and I knew they held no animosity toward each other, but it would be hard for Hawk to forget that Gunner’s dad killed his own. Hell, that would take anyone time to get over.
“Why am I here?” Hawk asked.
I’d just opened my mouth to reply when Maddie approached our table. “Hey guys, what can I get you?”
We gave our orders and waited for her to walk away before I faced Hawk. “Got some information to share.”
“About?” He gestured for me to continue.
“Snap.”
His eyebrows rose slightly. “What?”
“He’s got a little side business.”
His eyes flashed to Luke, who held up his hand. “I’m aware. We’re already in place to move on it as soon as he screws up.”
“Thought you should know that could be anytime, and you’re gonna lose your local president,” I explained.
“Why you tellin’ me this?” he probed.
I shrugged. “We’re doin’ this. Tryin’ to get along. We’re both turning our clubs around for reasons we share. Consider it being neighborly.”
He snorted. “You’re telling me you’re about to take down my president, and that’s neighborly?”
“Here you go.” Maddie smiled and set our cups in front of us.
“Thanks, Maddie,” Luke said, and she nodded before walking away again.
“You gonna miss ’im?” Gunner asked.
Hawk grunted. “He’s a fucktard. Been trying to find a reason to get rid of him anyway, but he’s got some loyal members here.” He lifted his cup to his mouth and took a drink. “This gonna affect my club?”
“Only the members who are participating,” Luke replied.
“How illegal we talkin’?”
“Felony charges.”
He nodded, and I took a drink, waiting for his questions, not surprised when he continued. “How’d you find out?”
I contemplated telling him Skinner told me but then shut down that thinking right away. Skinner had all but disappeared from our lives. A few members thought they saw him around, but no one knew where he was living or what he was doing.
Considering my other options, I settled on one. “Friend of the club works with at-risk kids. We found out a kid’s foster dad was working for Snap moving merchandise. Same dad got the kid a job and basically set him up for felony charges. We got the kid out, but the foster dad and Snap will pay, along with the others involved.”
“They know about you intervening?” he inquired.
“Foster dad does.”
He lifted his eyebrow. “Retribution?”
I took a breath and exhaled slowly. “Could be.”
“I’m assumin’ that kid doesn’t live there anymore.”
I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms over my chest. “Kid aged out. Works for me now, and he’s under our protection by living at the clubhouse until we get this shit cleared up.” I frowned. “His sisters stayed in the home until he left, which was the day after graduation. The girls are currently at the summer camp, but when they return, they will not be returning to that home.”
“You hoping to have it done by then?”
Luke glanced at me and then faced Hawk. “Foster dad made some mistakes recently, so the home will be closed to the girls returning. We’d waited and watched patiently for a long time for him to screw up, and he finally did.”
“Snap hasn’t made those same mistakes,” Hawk surmised.
“Not yet,” Luke replied. “But he will.”
“I’m assuming Josie is the friend you were referring to?” At the mention of her name, my blood heated. I still didn’t trust him enough to have any information on Josie. “She know about this family?”
“No,” I bit out. “She and the social worker will know very soon, though, considering we can take him down.”
“Why you movin’ so slow?” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Sounds like you got all the shit you need to take down the foster dad.”
“We wanted to make sure when he goes down, he stays down,” Luke admitted.
“Plus, the kid was trying to save enough to take on his sisters, so we let shit play out as long as the girls remained safe. They did. The dad had no interest in the girls, only the money the county gave him to take care of them,” I admitted.
Hawk’s eyebrows rose, and he grunted. “Unusual for a kid to stick around a foster home when he could’ve left, isn’t it?”
“You don’t know this kid,” Gunner explained. “He’d do anything for those girls.”
The bell on the door got my attention again, and a young girl with dark blond hair walked through. Luke shook his head and grinned before calling out, “Bree.”
Her head twisted, and the minute she saw Luke, an enormous smile graced her lips. She turned on her incredibly high-heeled shoes and walked back toward our table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hawk watching her closely and knew what h
e saw. She was gorgeous and obviously not afraid to show it off.
“Luke.” She arrived at the table just as he stood, and they hugged.
“You goin’ to work?”
Her smiled widened. “Actually, I’m going to meet with your brothers.”
He pulled back. “They’re your cousins.”
She laughed. “I don’t advertise that.”
He grinned. “Ahhh, so you’re meeting with Jake and Ben.”
She laughed and glanced around the table, but I had to give her credit when her eyes scanned over three men in motorcycle vests, and she didn’t even flinch. “Yep, Ben had the idea to have a designer stage the houses they’re building before they put them on the market.”
He nodded. “That’s a great idea.”
“And a great way for me to get my name out there.”
Luke glanced at us and gestured toward Bree. “This is my cousin Breanna. She’s an interior designer.” She smiled at each one of us.
“You’re the one with the twin sister who works construction.” Gunner voiced my exact thoughts. I’d met her sister once, and they were completely identical, although her sister had been wearing ripped jeans with her hair in a braid, which was the exact opposite of this sister.
She just began to nod when Hawk snorted. Her eyes flicked down to him, and her smile faded. “Problem?”
Luke cleared his throat, and I sat back to enjoy the show, but Hawk met her eyes and shook his head slowly. “No problem. Just can’t imagine a girl who looks like you needs to do much to impress the boys on the crew.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Bailey is the best one on the crew in talent alone. She doesn’t need to impress anyone.” She looked at Luke and flicked her thumb in Hawk’s direction. “Who is this jerk, Luke?”
“Don’t worry about it, Bree.” He cleared his throat, but it was obvious he wanted to laugh. “You’ll probably never see him again.”
End Game (Sinners MC Book 2) Page 26