Still. At least he cared enough to come by. That’s the part that has me in knots.
I stare down at my phone, knowing that I’m being ridiculous. Haze doesn’t get his feelings hurt, unlike most normal people. He’s too easygoing to let anything really get to him, or so he lets everyone believe. I just know how antagonistic the Rebels MC can be, and for the most part, we try to stay in our own cornersof the city. That can be a little tricky when I’ve grown friendly with Audrina, one of the club members’ ol’ ladies. When I was undercover a while back, investigating The Cut City boys — a gang of vigilantes that were forming a new alliance with other criminal organizations — I was in a cell with Audrina. She didn’t know it at the time, but I had been undercover for six months flushing these dudes out. After that, we kinda bonded.
Now that she’s had a baby, I’ve kinda lost my drinking buddy, not that Audrina was much of a drinker anyway, but she’s older and gave me advice on certain things that I should’ve been able to ask my mom. Men mainly, and being single, which she was until she met her old man, Hustler.
I sigh. My parents have never been heavily involved in anything I’ve done from growing up to now, so with Dad showing up, it’s more than a surprise. I need something to take the edge off.
Instead, I’m having to sit through dinner with my dad because he wants to celebrate. I’m immediately suspicious. I don’t know what his hidden agenda is, but it can’t be anything good. Unless he has news on Max and this is his way of breaking it to me gently. God knows what my little brother is up to now. I reach out to him now and again, but his replies are few and far between, and almost every time from a different number.
There’s a knock at my door and I’m jolted out of my reverie.. I smile when I see Payden standing there. She’s a lawyer, and best friends with Luna, another one of the ol’ ladies from the club. Despite her connections with the MC, we get along just fine.
“How’s it going, Captain?” She leans against the doorframe with a big smile on her face.
Payden is tall and slender with mid-length hair the color of a latte, and turns heads wherever she goes. She’s not only beautiful, but smart and funny, too.
“Well, not officially until a couple more weeks.” I thumb behind me. “Out with the old and in with the new.”
Recently, the whole force got a major shakeup when the internal crime division moved in. Our own Police Commissioner, Seymour Montgomery, was found guilty of corruption and went to jail. So many cops were found guilty of taking bribes, second hand deals, not to mention being involved in some shady shit. My own colleagues — people I trusted and worked alongside. So many sell out, but the one thing I’ve never done is use the law for my own personal gain. My job is to serve and protect, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing now that I’m captain since the previous one recently retired.
“The Mayor sends his regards.” She smiles.
Cale Callaghan, my ex-partner, left the force and ran for mayor after everything went down. He won by a major landslide, added to that? Nobody cared his ol’ lady, Stella, is the first female member of the Rebels. Yep, a real life biker chick. Everyone loves Stella. She’s beautiful, smart and works as a mechanic for the club. Her dad, Harlem, is a badass motherfucker and another thorn in my side. Not as much as Tag, Luna’s old man, who causes the police nothing but headaches. Mainly because he won’t cooperate and hates cops like it’s a national hobby, but Cash, the club President, has always been the link between the two worlds of right and wrong.
He has his rules, and we have ours, but I know he’s not a bad man. In fact, I respect him for some of the choices he’s made. Cash tries to keep this city as safe as I do, and at one point, was doing more than the actual police. Not that I’d ever admit that out loud.
I miss Callaghan, but he’s way happier where he is now, plus he’s one of the good ones doing right for this city. We need it because after the last shake down, the more sinister side of the dregs of this city came out to play. Human trafficking.
As for the rest of the Rebels? I used to think the club was just a bunch of bad eggs, but I know that isn’t true. They’ve done more to fight crime and corruption than half of the recently disposed departments, and that’s saying a lot. Still, rocking the boat with Haze showing up with his club colors is like rubbing salt in the wounds.
“I’m sure he does. How’s Stella?”
She shrugs. “As badass as ever. More to the point, how are you?”
I’ve gotten quite close to Payden over the last year. She’s one of the few lawyers in this city that isn’t a scumbag. “My dad’s in town for the ceremony,” I sigh. “So it’s going about as good as it can get.”
She frowns. “I’m sorry. Is he staying with you?”
“No, thank god. He’s at a hotel. We’re meeting up later for dinner.”
“Did he even act like he was proud of you?”
I shrug. “My dad has never acted that way, but I’m sure he is in his own way. He flew in from Florida,” I say. “So that’s gotta mean something, I guess.”
Dad always has an agenda, I just don’t know what this one is. Being a detective, I will get to the bottom of it.
“Soooo, how’s Connor?”
I let out a breath. “Fine, until Haze showed up.”
Her eyes grow wide as she steps into my office, taking a seat opposite me. “No way.”
“Yes way, oh, and his brother, too.”
“The quiet, hot one who’s single?”
“No. Brew.” I roll my eyes. “Wait,Logan?”
She shrugs. “Hey, God didn’t make sexy men for me to not look. I mean, we know he barely speaks, but still.”
