“Put the gun down, Catch.” Finger stood in the doorway, his distinctive sandpaper voice making Catch do a double take.
Finger folded his arms across his chest. “I’m gone two days, and you managed to bust out your balls again, bro?”
“Did what needed to be done,” muttered Catch.
“Not with that gun,” Finger interjected. “That belongs with the Jacks. You respect the weapon of a good man, a good brother. I don’t take that lightly. I admire your play, but this? This isn’t right.” Finger’s eyes rested on me. “It’s disrespect to a man I knew and admired.”
Catch leaned over and raked a hand through his hair, as if that would juggle a few brain cells to help him better grasp the logic of his prez’s argument.
“Catch,” Finger said, his throaty voice low.
Catch stuck out the revolver. The bullying boy in the schoolyard had finally been caught red-handed by the principal.
“Come give it to me,” I said on a snarl.
Catch moved forward, got in my face, eyebrows raised, and dropped the revolver as my hand reached out and caught it.
Little shit.
“Party’s over,” said Catch. “I’d invite y’all to stay, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Ah, no thanks,” I replied. “I’ve heard the beds around here suck.”
“You mother—” Catch lunged at me.
Two Flames dragged him back.
“How we gonna get past this shit now? You wanna tell me?” Butler’s voice thundered.
“I’m gonna need an apology,” I said, eyes going from Catch to Finger. “Then, the Jacks are gonna require a sweet form of payback for this heavy transgression. But first, I wanna know how you did it, Catch. Who’d you use to get it? Are you that much smarter than I took you for?”
“Your woman did it for me. Didn’t take much to convince her either. Heart of flames, that one.”
I saw red. “Son of a bitch!” My hands clamped around his neck and squeezed.
“Boner!” Butler yelled.
Hands shoved me back, my hair flying in my face. “You lying piece of shit! Jill would never—”
Catch choked and coughed, his face different shades of red, his hands shoving at my chest, curling in my shirt. “Yeah, Jill would never a hell of a lot of things, but with me, she sure as fuck did. Goes to show you.”
I pounced on him, my fist landing on his jaw, and he fell back, grunting. Another Flame moved toward me, but Finger stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“Catch more than deserved that,” Finger said.
A loud ting sliced the air. Butler untucked his phone from a pocket and glanced at it. “Fuck.” He tapped the phone and put it to his ear. “What the hell’s going on?” His eyes flicked up at me. “You and Jill did what?”
I grabbed the phone from him.
“We realized it was Mindy who stole the Python for Catch,” Nina said.
Mindy. Of course. Fucking Mindy.
I tossed the phone back at Butler.
“We’re on our way back. Don’t do anything else.” Butler shut down his phone.
My eyes pinned on Catch. “You been watching me, you knew about me and Mindy and you got her to do your dirty work, you slick scumbag?”
He let out a laugh. “Aw, you thought I was talking about your old lady before, huh? Nah. This other bitch, she was more than willing.”
Teasing, lying piece of shit.
Butler moved next to me. “Let’s get out of here.” He cast a dark glance at Finger. “Compensation needs to hit the table.”
We got on our bikes and waited for the compound gate to open. And that was when I saw him.
Across the street, a dark-suited figure, wearing black sunglasses, leaned against a silver Cadillac Escalade.
His hair, shorter now, was still that shock of shiny black. His round face was more swollen than when I’d last seen him, but that acidic expression etched on his mouth was the same.
He slanted his head.
Butler spoke with the Flame at the gate, but my eyes were riveted on Alejandro Calderone, my hands gripping my handlebars. The edges of his lips curved as his hand went to his temple, and he saluted me with two fingers. Another well-dressed man opened the back door for him. Alejandro climbed in, his eyes never leaving me. He watched me from his window, that twist still on his mouth. His driver started up the Escalade, and they sped off.
My wait was over.
I STRODE INTO THE MAIN HALL, and those gray-blue eyes flashed up at me from the sofa. With a quirky grin on her face, Jill held a huge margarita glass with a frozen green drink in it. She might as well have been having a cocktail at an upscale beach bar, not stretched out on the faded blue corduroy couch of the One-Eyed Jacks MC clubhouse lounge.
She put down her drink and wiped at the edge of her mouth. I dived at her and took that mouth. Apple and icy vegetables shivered over my tongue.
“What the hell are you drinking?”
“It’s a smoothie I just made. The ladies added vodka to theirs.” Her face was flushed. “Do you like it?”
My girl-woman. I raked my fingers through her hair, tugging her head back. “No, but I’ll take it.”