Damaged and the Knight (Damaged #2)

“I’ll watch the guys, but I’m not psychic.”


“You notice shit though. Also, you don’t have any preconceived notions about the guys. I look at them and think of past shit. I know who I like and don’t like. You don’t care about that. You’ll just see their reactions and that’s all you need to worry about. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Not that the Devils would start shit on Johansson territory. It’d be a massacre and Cooper’s dogs would end up well fed.”

Even nervous, I forced myself to eat. Hunger pains wouldn’t be helpful when faced with scary bikers in the midst of a pissing match. Judd leaned over and kissed my cheek.

“My life is about the job,” he whispered. “I can’t have a suburban fantasy like the Johansson boys. I didn’t grow up that way and I can’t fake it. My job is bloody and I need you to understand that because I want my life to be about you too.”

Smiling, I brushed my lips against his. “I don’t need a picket fence. I’d feel wrong with one anyway.”

“That’s why we work, babe.”

The rest of the breakfast was quiet, but Judd and I were comfortable with silence. This comfort made it easier to prepare for the prospect of facing the kind of men who ruined me years earlier.

While joining Judd, Cooper, Tucker, and Kirk’s top guys in the now empty bar, I put on my blank expression and faked calm. As a kid, I used my blank face when Dad’s friends would hang around and I’d worry about getting raped. I would sit very quietly and wait for them to leave. When they moved towards me, I never reacted. I think they wanted me to react, so I refused. I planned to refuse the urge to react at this meeting too.

Caleb was big and young like Cooper, but he had a hard face like a fist collided with it too many times. His hair was shaved short and I noticed a bullet hole tattoo on the side of his head.

Keeping my eyes on the ground, I only peeked up at the men. Not at the Devils, but our guys who might be working with the enemy.

“Who’s the broad?” Caleb asked, scratching at his dark beard.

“She’s the sister of my girl,” Cooper said, putting a lot of heat into his words.

Caleb shrugged. “What’s she gonna do? Take notes of the meeting.”

The six guys who came with him laughed, even though it wasn’t funny. Cooper just stared in that hard mean way of his. Standing just behind me, Judd had on his cold expression. Tucker looked pissed off while the rest of the Johansson guys glared at the newcomers.

“I’m not handing over Vaughn,” Cooper said.

“Why call the meeting, if you had nothing to offer?”

“To tell you face to face. Also, to force you to pay for the gas to travel here, so I could tell you face to face.”

“You’re the one losing money, Johansson,” Caleb muttered, glancing around the bar. “I’d think you’d be worried about paying salaries soon.”

Cooper grinned. “These people messing with my shit aren’t hurting me. They’re hurting my shit. My bills get paid and those people you’re protecting are signing their death warrants.”

“Speaking of death warrants,” Caleb said, still glancing around as if bored, “all this could go away if you handed over Vaughn. What do you want with a traitor like him around?”

“He betrayed your club, not mine.”

Nostrils flaring, Caleb faked a smile. “We’re going to get him one day. When that happens, we’ll quarter him then give his skull to Player’s old lady. Justice will be served. If you made that happen for us now, you would save yourself a lot of shit.”

“Like I said already, we’re not giving you Outlaw and we’re not interested in those assets your friends fucked with. We have other assets. Might even get ourselves some new ones too.”

“You threatening something here?” Caleb said, stepping closer and sending the room into testosterone overload.

Cooper merely crossed his arms and grinned. “Doesn’t every son want to expand on his father’s empire?”

Whatever this meant to Caleb, he wasn’t happy. Suddenly, he focused his hard gaze on me and gave another one of his fake smiles.

“You sure the little girl should be hearing all of this? She looks about ready to cry.”

Cooper stepped between me and Caleb then growled, “You should be worrying about what I want to hear.”

“So this is it?” Caleb nearly yelled. “You have us come all this fucking way, so you can tell us the same shit you told us on the fucking phone?”

“Hell yeah. No skin off my ass about your drive.”

“If you want a war, the old man will give you a war.”

“Wars are costly,” Cooper said, rubbing at his wrist where Farah’s name was tattooed. “Lots of people get involved. You have enough people to make that worth the trouble?”