Harry’s hand on my back broke me from my thoughts, and I half turned to face him.
“Tell me why you think she’s hiding something from you,” Harry said, squinting his eyes and scrunching his face up as the smoke hung limply from the edge of his lips while he spoke.
“She’s started going everywhere with Sutton for a start.”
“She’s helping a grieving man and a struggling father. Sutton won’t admit it, but he’s lonely, and Ayda is the only person besides Sloane who he can let his guard down with. He knows she won’t give him any bullshit. What’s your next thought?”
I narrowed my eyes and studied Harry’s face. “Doesn’t matter,” I pushed out, straightening my back and raising my chin.
“Sure it doesn’t.” He smirked.
“I’ve gotta go. The pawnshop needs opening, and then I’ve got a meeting with some chick over on the other side of Babylon at three.”
“What kind of meeting?”
“The kind you or any of the other men aren’t invited to.”
Harry rolled his eyes, grabbing his cigarette from his mouth as his laughter caused him to have another brutal and barking coughing fit.
“Jesus, Harry.” I frowned, slapping his back hard and watching as he bent over, coughing up a ball of phlegm. “Thisis getting worse.”
“Not really,” he croaked. “It’s nothing more than the cold air on my chest. I’ll be fine once I’m inside.”
“Then get inside already.”
He gave me a salute and turned to leave, while I just remained there, wondering what the hell was going on with the man in front of me, and already missing the woman who was traveling down a road somewhere behind.
Going about my morning, I got lost in the usual routine. I checked my phone every ten minutes to see if she’d called—the phone I’d quickly become an expert in using once I realized how many scars the little fucker could have saved Ayda and me if I’d taken it out with us that night. I checked the books of all the businesses, making sure to be as thorough as I could be when it came to the repo side of life. We were making a lot of cash on that front now, and I was determined to prove to everyone that with me at the head of the table, The Hounds could be a motorcycle club that didn’t have to survive off death and darkness alone. I sat with the guys in the bar for at least ten minutes of every day if I got the chance. I’d neglected my fellow brothers for far too long, wrapped up in my own selfish desires, woes, and fucking nightmares. Since saying goodbye to Pete under that tree and letting a lot of grief slide off me, I’d started to see things a lot clearer. I’d started to see how much of an arrogant prick I’d been before.
By the time the clock struck two, I’d waited long enough and was pushing my hoodie over my head, my cut over my shoulders, and throwing my leg over the other woman in my life: myHarley Davidson. Ayda would have to deal with me staring at her for a full hour before playtime struck.
“Fancy a riding buddy?” Slater asked as he walked overto me in the yard just as I was about to tear through the gates.
I gave him a lazy half smile and shook my head. “Not today, brother.”
“You’re not going to see Ayda again?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest and wearing a disapproving look. I knew what he said in that silence. It was what all the men were saying.
She’s safe, Tucker. Back the fuck off already.
“I have a special invitation to help her fill the condiments.”
“Is that what you kids are calling it these days?”
“Don’t hate the player, Slate.”
I could barely hear him once the sound of the engine filled my ears, but that didn’t stop him from shouting out at the top of his voice in true Slater style.
“Be careful with the salt!”
There had always been a freedom to riding hard and alone through the streets of Babylon, but now that I found myself laughing and smiling through the whole experience, it somehow seemed even fucking better. A fact that I would have said was impossible just a few months before.
Coming to a stop a few streets away from Rusty’s, I decided to keep Ayda on her toes a little bit and parked my bike up in the yard of a guy I knew who owned a garage. Slipping him a few dollar bills, I shoved my keys in my cut pocket and began to walk through the streets of Babylon. Weeks ago, this very act would have attracted trouble without me even trying, but in such a short space of time, the guys and I had worked hard to show the community that we were hereforthem, not to fight them.
I turned a corner to see three older ladies walking towardme, two of them smiling and offering me a greeting while the one in the middle remained quiet, still a little unsure. I couldn’t blame her. Decades of bad stories were never going to be just swept away because a six-foot bearded guy with a decent smile flashed them a wink.
It was worth a try, though.
Walking past them, I shoved my hands into my pockets and strode up to Rusty’s, eventually pushing through the door to see the usual crowd behind the counter.
