“No. Stating facts. The Jacks need an ally right now, and the Flames of Hell would be a formidable one. I’m telling you, the Blades’ predicament is attracting attention from other MCs that we have historically not gotten along with. If one of them gets a foothold in our neck of the woods, it aint’ gonna be good. The time has come to pick and choose, and we need to do so early and choose right.”
“Listen to you,” Jump let out a dark laugh. “If it hadn’t been for your amazing leadership skills, our North Dakota chapter would be solid now. Luckily, Judge has a brain and has worked damn hard to clean up the mess you left behind.”
“You think I don’t know that? I know that better than you, and it’s eating me up inside. I’ve been out there, Jump. I’ve visited a lot of clubs. Years ago, you had a chance to work with the Flames of Hell, but you didn’t want to. Dig was for it, creating something new and strong in our region, but you blasted that idea out of the water. Then, that opportunity died along with him. Since then, the Flames’ reach has gotten even stronger.”
“You Finger’s number one fan now?”
“I respect the man.”
“We’ve been doing good all these years,” Jump said. “If it ain’t broke, I don’t fix it.”
Butler’s blue eyes lightened in the sunlight filtering through the one large window that stretched across the side wall. “What do you fix, Jump? Over the years, it’s been noticed that you don’t fix much.”
Heavy silence met that loaded statement. Obviously, the National Jacks weren’t happy with Jump.
“And your idea of good only lasts so long,” Butler continued. “We need great now.”
“Is this why you dragged that bitch out here?” Jump sneered.
Butler pushed his coffee mug to the side. “My old lady happens to be the sister-in-law of the national VP of the Flames of Hell. You’d better watch how you talk and tread.”
“And Led is her guard dog, huh? You fuck.”
“South Dakota is far away from Ohio. They want to make sure their girl is being taken care of.”
“That’s up to you, brother, not me.” Jump leaned back against his chair. “Unless your cock ain’t up for the job. I seem to remember hearing something like that. Is that what Led’s here for?”
“Fuck you,” Butler spit out.
“Jump, come on, man!” I mashed what was left of my smoke into the ashtray in front of me.
Butler’s icy-blue eyes drilled holes into Jump. “My cock gets the job done. Question is, will yours?”
“I don’t owe you shit, Butler. You think you can stroll back in here, and I’ll hand you the keys to my kingdom?”
“I don’t want the keys, and it’s not your kingdom, is it?” Butler leaned forward. “This needs to go up for a vote.”
Jump’s eyes hardened. “You still using? Because I can tell you right now, if you stay and get comfy and you fuck up again, I catch you using—just once—you’ll be out on your goddamn ass forever.”
“I’m not using. Been clean for a year now,” said Butler.
“Says you.” Jump leaned over on his elbows. “There will be no voting on you coming back or on chitchatting with the Flames until I see how clean or unclean you really are.”
“Agreed.” Butler slanted his head as he rubbed his hands together. “And another thing—”
“What’s that?” A deep chuckle vibrated in Jump’s throat. “You and your old lady want the honeymoon suite tonight?”
Butler held Jump’s gaze. “I’ve got Creeper.”
Jump’s face slackened.
“I know you want him,” Butler said. “You need to nail his ass to make your show of strength to everyone out there, to show that our honor’s intact. The Flames want him bad after he kidnapped Catch’s kid, but I was out there, looking for him, for us.”
“He’s ours to put into the ground. Ours.” Jump rapped his knuckles on the table.
“I agree,” said Butler.
Butler’s eyes caught mine and then returned to Jump. “Now, I got him, and I’m offering you your moment in the sun.”
“You put him there in the first place when you were working with our biggest rival behind our backs. You gave him that power over us, asshole.”
“I did. And I regret it. This is me making up for it. But Creeper’s mine to give.” He settled back in his chair, his jaw firm.
“SHE’S PRETTY, HUH?” Tania asked as she leaned against the open doorway of Lock’s new storage-unit building behind Eagle Wings.
I handed her one of the lemon-and-kale smoothies I had brought from home for the two of us. She’d been here all morning, going through Lock’s late brother’s shit-ton of collectibles and prized “hoardery.” Tania was an art and antiques dealer and all-around collectibles picker who’d offered to help Grace and Lock organize Wreck’s vintage treasures since she got home two weeks ago.
“Who?” I raised my hand over my eyes to block out the midday sun and followed Tania’s line of sight through the clubhouse yard. “Oh, Nina?”
“Look at her—long blonde hair, big boobs, flat stomach, round ass, tight jeans, long legs, and a fuck-it attitude to go with it.”
“You’ve got a hell of a fuck-it attitude,” I said on a laugh.
“After forty, it fully flowers. She’s got to be around twenty-five?”
I shrugged. “I guess.”