Damaged and the Knight (Damaged #2)

“I would, but…”

“A real job,” Judd interrupted. “She could work as your assistant as far as everyone else knows, but she’s great at reading people. She’s good at organizing shit too. Put her to work, give her a nice salary, and smoke out your mole.”

“I just bring my girl’s sister to a meeting with another motorcycle club and no one’s gonna think anything weird about that?”

“Who cares what they think? Besides, they’re coming here to fuck with you, so you’ll hand over Vaughn. Your pop wants you to handle shit. Tawny can help. Problem fucking solved.”

Tucker entered the room and sighed. “Maddy’s a hormonal mess. Can’t wait until she pops the kid out and we’re done with that moody shit.”

“I think chicks are still moody after they pop them out,” Cooper said, studying me. “Judd thinks Tawny can figure out our mole.”

“Is she psychic?”

Glancing at Tucker, I smiled. “You haven’t gotten laid in days. You know you did something wrong, but you don’t know what and Maddy won’t tell you. Instead of just asking, you decided she’s hormonal. Maybe you outta ask and end the suspense, Tuck?”

Tucker grinned. “Bring her so we can kill the mole and clean this shit up before Pop decides our balls ain’t big enough to take over.”

Cooper sighed. “What about Farah?”

Judd chewed on a piece of bacon and glanced at me. “Tell her Tawny is your assistant. Farah knows her sister can read people. If you don’t find the mole soon, it’s going to affect her too.”

Leaning back against a desk, Cooper crossed his muscular arms and stared at me. “What did you tell her?” he asked Judd, even though his eyes remained on me.

“Nothing.”

“Fuck,” Cooper muttered. “Fine, but if there’s trouble, we get her out of the way.”

Judd rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t planning on using my woman as a shield, boss. I’d let them shoot you before I let anything happen to her.”

Cooper smirked. “I’m glad I never got all stupid and whipped like you are now.”

Laughing so hard at his brother’s bullshit, Tucker both farted and burped. Soon, everyone was laughing. The mood was so fake happy that I nearly convinced myself that I wasn’t walking into trouble. While Cooper and Tucker moved to the hallway and whispered about stuff I wasn’t interested in, I focused on Judd.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had this planned?” I asked quietly.

“Never occurred to me that you’d mind,” he said, eating his breakfast casually.

“I don’t like bikers.”

“I know, babe.”

“You should have asked me if I was okay with it.”

“Are you okay with it?”

“I guess, but I couldn’t really say no with Cooper standing there, now could I?”

When Judd stared into my eyes, I saw something around the edges of his indifference.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said in a hard tone.

Suddenly, it was clear why he never mentioned his plan beforehand. I moved closer to Judd and smiled slightly.

“If you told me ahead of time, you might have chickened out, right?”

Judd caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. “I need you to do this, but that doesn’t mean I want you to do this. Get it?”

“Yes.”

“These fuckers are messing with the Johansson’s business. They’re threatening the family and club. Going to war would be messy and I don’t think the Devils want war. They have someone inside though. Someone telling them where our assets are located and when best to hit them. The head of the Devils is a fucker named Lloyd, but he’s sending his VP Caleb to talk with Cooper. It’s a sign of disrespect that he won’t come himself.”

“Why do they want Vaughn?”

“He was a Devil. Now, he’s not. How that change came about is of great importance to Lloyd. For Kirk, none of that shit matters. All he cares about is that Lloyd is unhappy. They’ve hated each other for years, but Lloyd behaved because Kirk has Memphis behind him. Now, with talk about Cooper taking over, no more behaving.”

“What happens if they get Vaughn?” I asked like an idiot, but I hoped the answer wasn’t the one I was imagining.

“Don’t worry about Vaughn or about the Devils. You just watch our guys. There are a dozen possible members who might be the mole. Those guys will be at the meeting and I need you to figure out which one is working with the Devils. We’ve checked them all out and nothing comes up. Someone is squealing though because there’s no way those assets get hit without inside info. Of course, the Devils pretend they’re not behind it. They just say they know who is and will handle it if they get Vaughn.”

“So Cooper is just having this meeting to flush out the mole?”

“Yeah, mainly. The Devils have been starting shit for months, but Kirk’s handing the issue over to Cooper. It’s his first big test and he needs to pass.”