Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Talia headed straight for the prospects. “Is Marsh here?”
“He’s out back.”
“This is my friend Cooper,” she said. “And his friend Levi. Keep an eye on their bikes. I find one scratch and you’ll pay, got it?”
The fuck? I could hardly believe what I’d just heard . . . No fuckin’ way she should be talking to a prospect like that—that was business for patch holders. Gage shot me a quick look, as if to say Told you so. The Nighthawk Raiders had really fallen to shit.
The prospect gave me an evil glare as he turned toward the gate, and I couldn’t blame him. We were out of line.
The party wasn’t much better. There was the usual mess of club whores, all fucked up on God knows what. A few old ladies here and there, some loud music. Kegs. The brothers were a bit of a mix—there were a couple who looked pretty solid to me, which matched what we’d heard from Pipes. Most of the others were high as shit.
No wonder they kept running short on product.
As we went to grab some beer, Talia started introducing us around. I noticed the Nighthawk brothers fell into two distinct groups. Those with newer, shinier cuts were falling all over themselves to suck up to her—at least to her face—while a slightly older group with more faded colors kept their distance. I caught a few of them staring me down, and the looks weren’t friendly. The rumors about Marsh recruiting heavily had to be true, because no way this many new members had prospected in. I wondered how the hell things had gotten this far. Something was deeply, deeply fucked in this club.
We wandered over to the keg and pumped ourselves some beer, which Sadie sucked down like her life depended on it. After a while I started swapping cups with her, letting her drink my share, too. They had a couple of fire barrels set up around the back side of the building—also fenced in—and Talia herded us toward a big man standing in the center of a group.
He had long, dark blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, with a girl under one arm and a bottle of tequila in the other. His patches identified him as the president. Marsh.
Showtime.
Talia slipped up to him, and I noted how the other girl ducked away from Marsh, making room for his sister without being told. He wrapped his arm around Talia, giving her a squeeze.
“How’s my baby girl tonight?” he asked, his voice strong and booming.
“Great,” she said, popping up on her toes to kiss his cheek. He looked closer to Gage’s age than mine, so she had to be a good ten, fifteen years younger than he was. Interesting. “You remember Cooper? We met him at the bar the other night—he’s that independent rider I was telling you about. And that’s his friend Levi.”
Marsh looked us over, nodding toward Gage.
“Good to see you again,” he said. “You find drinks?”
Gage raised his cup in salute. “Thanks for the invite. I’m new to the area, still finding my way around.”
“You’d mentioned that. What’s a long-haul trucker doing in Hallies Falls? Isn’t this a little out of the way for you?”
Gage shrugged.
“Had to get away from my bitch of an ex,” he lied smoothly. “The cunt’s tryin’ to take away my kids. She’s got a new man down in Ellensburg—figure this is close enough to go see ’em but not so close I have to see her fat ass on a daily basis. You got any kids?”
“No, but I raised this one here,” he said, smiling at Talia proudly. Huh. That explained a lot. “She’s been my little shadow her whole damned life.”
Talia giggled, kissing him again . . . just a little close to the mouth. I kept my face blank. Marsh looked toward me next.
“So what’s your story?”
“Coop is my cousin,” I told him. “Just got done serving time—tryin’ to figure out my next step. He’s been helping me out.”
Marsh nodded his head thoughtfully, and I knew he’d taken the bait. Two independents with questionable backgrounds could be useful to him.
“You ride, too?”
I grinned—wouldn’t have to lie about this part.
“Live to ride,” I said. “Worst part about bein’ inside was losin’ my bike. Now I’m on the road every day. Feels like I can breathe again.”
Marsh nodded.
“Enjoy yourselves—we throw a good party, and there’s always room for independents around here, so long as they know their place.”
“Appreciate the hospitality,” Gage said. “We’ll keep our eyes open, let you know if we see anything you should know about.”
“Sounds good.”
Marsh gave Talia one last squeeze, then turned away, clearly done with us. I shared a glance with Gage—that’d gone well.
“More beer,” Sadie whined, but Talia wanted to do shots, pulling us in another direction. Marsh’s sister might be hot as hell, but thank God that Gage had to deal with her. All issues with Mel aside, no fuckin’ way I’d want to stick my dick in that cunt.