“Sure.” I’m uneasy about going to another club without Jack, but I don’t have a choice.
We pull into what seems like a hole-in-the-wall bar with dark, almost blacked-out windows. The parking lot has more potholes than parking spaces. The hair on my arms stands at attention, my intuition warning me to turn back. But minutes later, I’m walking in alongside Tanner.
He points to a high-top table. “Sit there and wait for me, okay?” He stalks off before I can reply.
I climb onto the barstool, careful not to touch the tabletop. It’s sticky with who knows what. I stare at the table and set my hands in my lap.Why the hell did he ask me on a ride if all I’m doing is sitting in a corner alone?
As Tanner disappears into a back room, my eyes travel around the open space, catching the curious stares of some men at the bar. Their grins remind me of dogs drooling over a steak. My heart starts racing, and my hands go clammy. Something about this place makes me want to leave. Now.
“Is this what Sonny and Jack were warning me about?” I ask myself. While I can’t imagine anything so significant happens at Jack’s club, this place reeks of dirty secrets and dangerous deals.
“You have done well, kids, and proven you know how to earn for the club,” a male voice says from down the hall. “If you come through and can hack into the cameras surrounding our routes, I’ll double the quantity of dope you can distribute. But if you fuck this up, we’re done and your supply will be cut off. A lot of money is on the line. I’m sticking my neck out by subcontracting you for club business. Got it?”
My knee bounces. I’m not sure I should be hearing any of this.
“I said we have it handled. David is a savant when it comes to computers.” The responder’s baritone sounds eerily familiar. “Have we ever let you down before? Let us do what we’re good at and get off our asses.”
My hair stands on the back of my neck as Austin storms out of the shadows.
I try to hide in the corner as best as I can.Stay away.But as if on cue, he clocks me. David and another guy follow close behind.
“Jessi?” Austin sneers.
Austin turns his attention to the third guy, who I’ve never seen before. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“Who the fuck are you?” the unknown man wearing a cut growls at me.
My hands start to tremble, and I desperately search for Tanner while trying to think of an explanation that won’t land me in deep shit. My gaze flies to a mirror facing us on the opposite wall. Perfectly placed for me to see Tanner emerge—with an arm draped over Rachel’s shoulders. When my eyes fly back toward Austin and David, David’s jaw is grinding. I know he is seeing what has caught my attention.
By the time Rachel and Tanner walk into the main bar area and reach us, they have separated.FML. Jack was right. Great.
“Hey, who is this?” Austin says as Tanner walks over to me.
Tanner lassos me with the same arm that had been wrapped around Rachel and draws me to him. “Tanner,” he says. “Who are you? How do you know my girl?”
Austin balks. “It’s interesting that you call her your girl, because she’s my sister, and I’ve never heard of you.”
Tanner’s head snaps toward me.
“He’s my stepbrother,” I clarify, getting up and trying to force Tanner toward the door. “Can we go?”
Rachel and David stand behind Austin wearing matching sneers. David seems focused on Tanner more than me. I’ve no idea what their problem is. I’m the one who should hate them. However, I find it hard to keep the smirk off my face when I see David still sporting raccoon eyes, and a broken nose, I gave him.
The man wearing a cut points to Tanner, Austin, and David. “We don’t need a fight breaking out over some biker bunnies. There are plenty to go around here. These two are new, so you’d better make sure they know how to keep their mouths shut.”
I look back at Tanner and find him ogling Rachel, who’s returning the favor with interest. Thankfully, I wasn’t all thatinto Tanner. David catches the silent conversation between Rachel and Tanner before yanking Rachel to him so hard that she stumbles. I almost feel sorry for her.
Austin, being the royal dick that he is, taunts, “I hope you know that Jessi isn’t one to party and put out,Tan. Don’t get your hopes up. She broke David’s nose last week for trying to show her a good time.”
Tanner’s eyes widen at me. Then he puffs out his chest, fixing David and Austin with a glower. “She must not have been interested, because I showed her a good time last night, and she’s on the back of my bike now.”
Ugh.I could gag at this cock fest. I’m beyond ready to go home.
Austin and David shuffle their feet, probably trying to come up with a rebuttal. David’s teeth clench and his face turns purplish-red.
Rachel chimes in sweetly, seemingly ignoring the possessive hold David has on her. “Jessi might not know how to have a good time, but I do.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. All these people deserve each other.
