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“We have him covered, but no, there’s been nothing so far.”

“Call me if anything happens. I’d rather be first on the scene if our mayor is sniffing for something to pin on you guys.” Twang gives me a knowing look.

Pres slaps the table and declares Church done. Everyone jumps up and makes a beeline for Twang. Speaking from experience, his back is going to be black and blue when he wakes up in the morning.

Chapter 7

*~* Allegra *~*

Iam still so angry with that stupid man. Why wouldn’t you have a passenger seat on a motorcycle, for heaven’s sake. That’s like buying a 7-seat SUV and only having the driver's seat installed. I don’t know what to make of the man. Cannon was no better. He just sat and grinned at me the whole time we sat at the café waiting for my shift to start.

When he took my hand, I felt an electric shock run up through my arm and through my whole body. When he gave me that look, too! Oh my. No man has made me feel like a little girl being told off. Well, only my papi, but that was many years ago. I like the man, but he infuriates me so. When he took me home after the fight at the bar opening night, I thought he was going to kiss me, but he was the perfect gentleman. I had had much to drink that night and was excited after the fight, so much so that I would have slept with him in an instant.

The thought makes me blush, as I am not experienced in such matters. I have a very limited previous boyfriend list. All of two. One was so in love with me, it was pitiful. Lovely but pitiful. The second was far more experienced and extremely callous in his use of me. Romeo almost went to prison for that one, but Cannon provided his alibi, one which the police couldn’t disprove. Cannon was a decorated military man with documents to prove that Romeo was on base the whole night. He was a good friend to my brother. It was not his fault, despite all his guilt, that Romeo didn’t come home from his last tour.

Cannon and I are better friends than we would have been lovers. We would have been good as lovers, but I am too jealous to make a good partner in life. I wonder how that would work with Vortex? Ha! I would never have to worry about him running around with another woman. He has only one seat. Unless he used the club's SUV like when he brought me home.

No. He wouldn’t dare. He would have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of his days. I would tie him to the bed, make him inhale helium, then slowly crush his balls while he squealed in a high pitched girly voice. I would record him on my phone and torment him by playing it back on a loop until I was satisfied he would never be able to not hear it in his every waking moment. If this is how I think of someone that I believe I care about, perhaps I should see a shrink?

Clearing tables, I try to think of something other than torturing my future lover. Future lover? I could be jumping the gun there. Walking back into the restaurant from the kitchen, I stop suddenly. Just being seated at one of my tables is the asshole, and he is with a woman. Oh my God. This is not happening. I will get fired if I have to serve him.

Chris the realtor is sitting with an older, bitchy-looking woman, certainly not the Barbie from his office. This one needs only a black pointy hat and a broom to be the perfect witch of fairy tales. Good God, she is ugly. What could he possibly see in such a woman?

How can I get out of this situation? I cannot possibly serve them after what happened in his office today. He will cause a scene as soon as he sees me. Speaking to the restaurant owner will be a waste of my breath, I know this. He will side with Chris in an instant even though I am his best server and receive the highest tips. I refused to sleep with him more than once, and the last time I threatened his manhood with a cleaver and the butcher's block in the kitchen.

Brushing myself down and wearing my brightest smile, I approach the table, wish them both a good evening, and ask if they would like drinks. She is busy looking around the room, but his face takes a moment to register who I am, and then he takes a second look. I see the horror and just smile all the wider at him to show there are no hard feelings from the earlier encounter.

Judging by his response, I must be giving him a death's-head grimace. He pushes himself back from the table and surprise, surprise, he tips the focking chair over and he bangs his head, again! Fock, fock, fock. Could this get any worse? Yes, it could. The witch looks back at the table and sees me reaching down to help him up and starts to scream that I just assaulted him.

The whole restaurant looks our way and I panic, letting him go halfway to being sat back up. This looks to the bitch-witch that I just threw him to the ground for the second time, so she screams again. It is so high-pitched it hurts my ears. Just as I instruct her loudly to shut-the-fock-up, the owner arrives on the scene. Listening to the woman give him a bullshit explanation, I see the grin start to form as he knows that he has me dead-to-rights. A roomful of witnesses who don’t know what happened but will agree to anything he says for a free meal seal my fate.

“Fock you, asshole,” and I kick the owner in his nuts.

“Fock you, asshole,” and I stomp on Chris’s nuts.

“Fock you, bitch,” and I punch her hard enough to knock her and her chair over backwards to land next to Chris.

The owner starts to say something, so as I take off my fancy little black apron, I shove as much as I can into his mouth to silence him. Giving the last bit a good shove, I make sure he falls over and joins the other two on the floor of his restaurant.

Walking onto the sidewalk, I take out my phone and call Cannon to come and pick me up.

“Oh no, you did not stomp on his family jewels?” Barbara states between holding her stomach as she laughs so hard it hurts her.

Cannon picked me up from the restaurant, and after a very brief explanation, he took me to his home at the MC compound, as they call it. I am glad he did, as I was not ready to go home to that noisy house or my tiny room just yet. He has a beautiful home here with Barbara and Howie.

Explaining the afternoon and then the evening's incidents has left Barbara holding her stomach both in laughter and pain. Cannon seems less surprised by my antics and just smiles as he shakes my head.

“Romeo would be proud of the woman you have become, Allegra. He always said he never wanted a girly-girl sister, but would be proud of a tomboy that could take care of herself when he wasn’t around.” His words surprise me, as we rarely, if ever, speak of Romeo. My eyes fill with tears, and Barbara turns on him.

“Now look what you’ve done, you great ape. Why would you upset her when she’s had such an awful day already? Go check on our son and see if he’s woken up for his next feed. Christ Almighty! Men!”

Suitably chastised, Cannon heads off, and Barbara hands me a tissue. “I’m sure he’s right about your brother, but he’s a man so has lousy timing.”

“It took me by surprise, that’s all. He never speaks of Romeo normally.” I sniff a little and get myself back under control.

“He mentions him quite a bit. I know they were very close, and he misses him a great deal. I think that’s where the guilt comes from. If they hadn’t been so close he wouldn’t feel so bad. Oh, and he was afraid of you, of course.”

“What? You’re joking. Cannon is afraid of nothing. Never has been.” I laugh at her attempt to cheer me up.