“What was he like?” I ask, dumping the precarious pile of cheese into a bowl and continuing to grate.
Christina waves her fork, stuck in a wet potato. “He was nice. A real keeper. Had a job doing cement work. Only had one roommate in his apartment, not six.” She elbows Jami. “Am I right?”
Jami nods. “Sucks when they pack them in. Banging them is like doing a sex show.”
I can’t even imagine. “What happened?”
“I fucked it up.” Christina yanks the fork from the potato and stabs it again. “I dunno. He was safe, you know? I guess I didn’t believe he could be real. So, I took off with a loser type. You know the ones. They burn hot, promise the world, then disappear.”
“Did you try to go back to the nice one?”
“Nah.” Christina picks up a fresh potato and stabs it with renewed vigor. “He found some good girl while I was fucking around. They had a proper church wedding and got a dumb little house, the whole enchilada.”
That potato gets the full prick treatment before Christina realizes what she’s doing and sets it with the stabbed ones.
My cheese pile gets high again, so I move it to the bowl. I think I understand the concept of the ride or die. Is Merrick it?
I’m here, grating cheese, skipping class, agreeing to what amounts to a house arrest.
That’s for him.
I try to imagine leaving, getting out of the whole situation once the raid is over and the Kin gone. But the hollow ache that sweeps over me tells me I’m feeling something.
That isn’t sex. That’s yearning.
“How long were you with Halo?” I ask Jami.
“Not long,” she says. “I was supposed to be with Anarchy, the president, as a second ol’ lady. His ol’ lady picked me out, actually, wanting someone else to take on his appetite.”
I paused grating. “You were willing to do that?”
“With a president? Sure. There’s a lot of clout in that. My own cabin on the property. Money. I wouldn’t have to work.” She pushes her lilac hair behind her shoulder. “But he said the expansion of the club was more important. He didn’t want another ol’ lady. So, he passed me to Halo.”
Wait. Did she mention the expansion?
I think for a second about how to ask about it without tipping her off that it was important. “Why was the expansion so hard that another woman would take too much time?”
Jami shrugs, folding the empty plastic bag from the potatoes. “It wasn’t about time. He said something about the wife of somebody being jealous, somebody important. He was fucking her. And she was the reason the locals were looking the other way while the Kin started three meth operations.”
My heart beat faster. “She must have been important. And jealous.”
“Yeah, her husband was paralyzed or had a bum leg or something. She was hot for Anarchy. She put up with the first ol’ lady since she already existed. But I’m pretty sure she was the one who blocked him getting a second.”
That’s good information. I finish grating the block and move the grater to the sink. “I’m going to check that the steaks are defrosting,” I tell them. “Grab a platter and cut four sticks of butter into squares for the potatoes. Actually, six.”
I hurry to the bedroom where Betz is helping Carol change the sheets. “Where’s Stoney?”
Carol looks up from the bed. “He’s about to head to the Leaky Skull to meet with Iron Jack. They’re talking to Merrick about the raid.”
Betz looks like she’s about to ask me why I need to know, but I rush out front.
Stoney is strapping on his helmet.
“Stoney! I might have some information,” I call. “I just got it out of the Kin women.”
He snaps his chin strap. “What did they say?”
“Anarchy is the president of Lucifer’s Kin, right?” I ask.
