And now, I fail him by not operating as the perfect showpiece for his perfect family.
All my life, I’ve held myself to impossible standards. It just took me until now to realize they were his.
ELEVEN
JINX
“You knowthey won’t let up.” Loki traces a crack in the top of the timber meeting table with the end of his pen knife. “If Matthias has promised the Devil’s Breed an income stream, they’ll hold him to that.”
“Or take the idea and run with it themselves. Why do they need Matty to do it if they supply the girls?” I lean back in my chair and fold my arms. Riddle me that. What does Matthias have that they need?
“I’m not sure why they’d think he’s necessary,” Chaos answers. “But I’d hazard it has something to do with this sister of his. Did you find out anything about her?” He directs the question toward Darko.
Our secretary and resident hacker shakes his head. “Other than what he already said. She worked at a massage parlor for six years, but she wasn’t always the manager. Started off as the secretary and three years in got promoted to management overnight.”
“Slept her way to the top?” Fang asks.
“It’d be the obvious answer,” Darko cedes. “But I don’t think so.”
“Interesting.” Chaos frowns at Loki until the guy stops his mutilation of the table. “Keep looking and let me know what turns up.”
Darko nods.
“What concerns me is his declaration that he already has the girls,” Highway says. “It gives the impression they’re already in the area or at least nearby.”
“I’d had that thought, too,” Chaos agrees. “No murmurs in town that could be linked?” He looks to Circus for the answer.
The man gives a single shake of his head. He’s been lurking in the shadows and catching fuck all.
“None of my network has said anything about Devil’s Breed stepping out of their territory before now, either.” Loki shrugs. “Maybe Matthias was bluffing?”
“Or maybe they’ve managed to stay under the radar.” I jerk forward, setting my elbows on the table. “I don’t think we can dismiss this as settled simply because we haven’t seen the evidence yet.”
“I agree.” Chaos nods. “Circus. Crow. I want you two to keep shaking the branches in town to see what falls out. Darko. Keep digging on that woman. And Fang. I’ve got shit I need taken down to the Amish. You can ride out there tomorrow.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His eyes widen before a stunted laugh escapes his pierced lips. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the asshole who needs to regain their trust, not me.”
“Gee, thanks.” He sits back, arms folded, and one eyebrow raised as he stares at the table before him. “I’ll be lucky if I make it out of there intact if Andy catches sight of me.”
“I think you’d need to worry about her new husband more,” Loki teases.
We all know Fang’s dubious history with our Amish contact, Andy’s sister, a young woman who ran wild during Rumspringa.You’d think he would have learned the hard way about sticking his dick places before he’s thought through the consequences, but the daughter he shares with one of our club bunnies says otherwise. “You’ll be fine,” I assure the idiot. “They’re hardly likely to shoot you on a Sunday of all days.”
“Wow,” he sasses. “I feel so much better.”
“You made your bed, Fang,” Chaos says on a sigh.
“And then you lay in it.” Loki grins, earning a flying drink coaster to the chest for his trouble.
“No throwing shit at each other,” I snap. Swear to God, they’re like fucking children. “Anything else that needs discussing before we wrap this up?” I cast a glance at Chaos, who none-too-subtly thumbs a message beneath the edge of the table. “Pres?”
He snaps his head up. “Huh?”
“I said, is there anything else we need to cover before this gets wrapped up?”
He chews his bottom lip, casting his eye along the men at the table. “I don’t think I need to state the obvious, but I will anyway. We don’t have the numbers we used to. Should this mess with Matthias escalate, we’ll be outnumbered roughly two to one, and that’sifthey don’t ask for help from outside chapters.” Solemn nods move in a wave around the table. “Way I see it, we have two options. One—we ask for help fromouroutside chapters. But since that means we draw them into our shit and risk escalating any beef with the Breed totheirhome states, I don’t favor it.” The muscle in his jaw flickers. “Yet.”
