Or maybe it’s because we all recently learned that Zep’s mom, Jolene, lied for his entire life about having a one-night stand with Butch Ballard. The president of our rival, the Black Venom. No, that bastard forced himself on her, and the revelation royally fucked with Zep.
Not that anyone can blame him. That’s enough to mess with anyone’s head.
Besides being in the bar with us, the Venom have been lying low since Butch’s attack on Misty Reynolds, Zep’s girl. If Misty hadn’t called out for Zep, Zep would’ve killed his biological father.
But don’t worry. We broke enough of his bones before his club stepped in to stop us that it took months for him to get back on a bike. We really should’ve killed him, but there’s too much at play to pull that off without blowing up the Daredevils.
“Shouldn’t you be at home with your pregnant girlfriend? Besides, if Lainey doesn’t want me talking to her, she can just tell me,” Wylie says, a sick grin on his face.
He knows Zep is positive that the Venom had something to do with Johnny Sloan’s death. Lainey’s father. Our former president, who died in a hit-and-run accident. Even though there’s no proof anything other than an accident occurred, it doesn’t do much to convince Zep.
It’s a good thing he didn’t take over the president seat. We’d be at war that we’re not set up to win. Not with the Venom’s network that spreads into law enforcement.
“Ihavetold you,” Lainey says, her dark hair swaying from side to side against her back as she moves her head. “You just don’t know how to listen.”
There’s no doubt this asshole was raised by Butch. He’s the road captain to his daddy’s club, and he acts more like Butch every day. And constantly hitting on his half-brother’s pseudo-stepsister doesn’t make it any better.
As far as everyone’s concerned, Johnny was Zep’s father. Making Lainey his sister, and anyone related to us is off-limits to the Venom. Just like we don’t go after their women.
Not that we want to.
Nor do they actually follow the rule.
“Guys, you know the rules,” Nancy Charney says from behind the bar.
The owner of the Seven Crows grabs her bat from beneath the bar and gives each man a warning look. This woman has more authority than the cops in this town—not that it takes that much with the Keystone cops we have in Gravelton—and she has one of the only truly neutral establishments in town.
Nancy’s family is part of a notorious gang that can give everyone in here a run for their money. No one wants to fuck with her. And if you do, it’s a guarantee you’ll end up dead with your head on a stick.
“Then tell him to stop fucking with my family!” Zep growls. “We won’t have threats of violence around here if he fucking stops.”
“Maybe I just enjoy our family bonding time,” Wylie says with a wink. “And I’d really like to bond with Lainey.”
The asshole has been flirting with Lainey since high school, and I can’t tell anymore if it’s just to fuck with Zep. It seems like he might actually want her.
My phone rings, and Scotty’s name on the screen makes me dread answering. It’s too early for a threat he can’t handle, so that means either a system failure somewhere or an angry customer.
Both things I don’t want to deal with.
“Yeah?”
“Pacino, someone’s casing out the bakery,” Scotty says, his voice shaking.
The panic tells me Sarah’s there with cheery Phoebe, and for some reason, my heart races. What if someone is actually after Phoebe?
I signal to Jethro at the end of the bar. “We’ll be right there.”
“What’s up?” the new president asks.
“Rule seven,” I say.
Jethro got his name by his code of twenty-five rules, and number seven is the most used.Always protect the women.
“Saddle up, boys!” the redhead shouts. “Follow Pacino!”
We hurry to the bakery as a dark SUV peels away with blacked out windows. Scotty stands at the front door, taser in hand, and he looks utterly ridiculous. It almost makes me laugh.
He’s a damn good electronics man, and he can hold his own in a fight—for a few minutes—but he’s too fucking excitable to give a real gun to. He’d shoot an unarmed man just for startling him, and that would really hurt business.
