Ally’s voice rose to the wheedling the tone she used when she was trying to convince Naiya to do something she knew Naiya wouldn’t want to do. “But it was fun when you were with Holt ’cause he wasn’t scared of Viper. And he made you not scared either. You took risks and survived. You hung with a biker and didn’t turn into a crack whore, if you’ll pardon my disrespect, but I’ll never forgive your mom for abandoning you like she did. Holt would never do that to you. He wanted to protect you. If he’s gone, it’s ’cause you pushed him away.”
“I didn’t push him away.” She lowered her voice when a man in a business suit walked into the room. “He said he was going to do what he had to do, and I wasn’t going with him because it was too dangerous and I didn’t belong. That’s when I suddenly realized I’d gone off the rails. I mean, what the hell was I thinking?” Naiya frowned when a black sedan with blacked-out windows pulled up in front of the hotel. Something twigged at the back of her mind. She’d seen that vehicle before.
“Isn’t that his choice?”
A man stepped out of the sedan. Tall and lean, with dark hair, a black suit and a blue tie. Her heart skipped a beat.
Michael.
“Ally, I have to go.” She raced over to her computer, logged off, and grabbed her stuff. Sweat beaded her forehead as she made a last visual sweep of her workspace.
“I’ll call you later.”
TWENTY-TWO
TANK
A woman shrieked, and Tank missed his shot.
“Fuck.” He looked up at Gunner chalking his cue on the other side of the pool table. “That doesn’t count.” He glared at the group of women sitting beneath the flashing neon sign that read “Rider’s Bar.” What the hell was so funny? Didn’t they know this was a place for serious drinking and not a place to party?
“Every stroke counts.” Gunner snorted a laugh and made a lewd gesture with his hips. “That’s what I tell the ladies.” He looked over at Shaggy who was their fourth for the game. “Take notes, old man. Now that Zane’s outta the game, I’m the new Sinner chick magnet.”
Leaning over the pool table, to take his shot, Zane cracked a smile. He’d been doing that a lot since Evie had walked back into his life with the son he never knew he had. Tank didn’t think he’d ever seen Zane smile before Evie, and he still couldn’t get used to it. But it seemed to happen to the brothers who hooked up with an old lady. Even Jagger had been caught smiling once.
“You talking smack ’cause you forgot how to shoot, Gun?” With T-Rex’s return to the club still uncertain, Tank felt obliged to try and fill T-Rex’s role as peacekeeper, but it didn’t come easy.
“Fuck you.” Gun grabbed his cue and sent the cue ball careering wildly into the far bumper.
“Looks like you need some help holding your stick.” Tank made a pumping gesture with his hand and everyone laughed. “You need some pointers, I’ll be happy to show you how it’s done.”
“Yeah ’cause you’re that hard up,” Gun snapped, never one to enjoy being the butt of Sinner jokes. “Can’t get a woman, so you spend your time with your hand down your pants.”
Damn. They were always talking him down, never taking him seriously. Ever since T-Rex disappeared, they hardly noticed Tank anymore. He’d never realized how he’d stood in T-Rex’s shadow until the light was gone. And now that T-Rex was back, he would disappear again.
“I got a girl,” Tank said bristling. “A civilian. And she’s famous. Classy. Smart as fuck. Not the kind of girl that would ever look twice at you.” He regretted the lie as soon as it was out of his mouth. His brothers weren’t going to let that one go, but if he let slip he’d been with a reporter, he’d be kicked out of the club.
“Yeah?” Shaggy lifted his thick brows. “Like movie or TV famous? Who is she? When are you bringing her to the club?”
“Jesus H Christ,” Gunner muttered. “He’s shitting you. What would a chick like that want with Tank? Movie and TV stars, society girls … they go for the big money or the big players. Maybe if he was president, he’d have a shot. But a fucking junior patch who lives in the fucking clubhouse and drives a piece of shit Fat Boy? Come the fuck on.”
Tank opened his mouth for a snappy retort, when he heard someone call his name. Frowning, he looked through the crowd in the direction of the voice and caught sight of Naiya, a bag over her shoulder, her chest heaving, and her hair in disarray. She looked around, caught Tank’s gaze, and relief spread across her face as she came toward him.
“Do you know where Holt is?”
Tank shook his head. “I thought he was with you.”
She glanced over at the brothers and lowered her voice. “We kinda had a fight. He dropped me at the hotel and took off. But there was an ATF agent who was asking us questions in Trenton, and I just saw him outside the hotel.” She leaned right up and whispered in his ear. “Holt shot Leo, Viper’s VP, and then we took his bike. The attendant at the gas station where you saw us told the ATF he saw two people in Bolton Beaver sweatshirts on a fancy bike, and when the agent saw me in the sweatshirt he got suspicious. But without the CCTV tape, he couldn’t link us directly.”
“I took the tape,” Tank said. “I told Holt when he told me about Leo. You’re safe ’cause I won’t let anyone get it.”