Brooding biker Judd steps onto the curb and stares at Rafael like I’m invisible.
“I’ll drop your shit off at your place and his shit over at the apartments.”
Once Rafael nods, Judd returns to the SUV. I frown at the disappearing car.
“What apartments?”
“The Reapers use a local place to put up guests. More secure than a hotel.”
“Fancy for a shithole.”
Rafael sighs. “Don’t call it that in front of Cooper.”
“Sensitive type, huh?” I ask, nudging him. “I’ll keep the hankies handy.”
Grinning, Rafael shakes his head. “These people love their little patch of nowhere.”
“I’ll be nice, boss. Treat this place like it’s Naples, and I’m in fucking awe.”
Rafael walks into the front office of Johansson Management Inc. where an older woman waits behind a big white desk covered in tiny angel figurines.
“You ready to go in?” she asks Rafael.
“We’re waiting for someone, Bette. This is Dino, by the way.”
“Charmed, doll,” I say, flashing her one of my best smiles.
Bette’s pale skin flushes beet red, and I know I’ve made a fan. If only Minka were so easy to impress.
3
Minka
Getting My Head Together
Vaughn drops me off after leaving Harlow at her house. He tells me to watch out for Cooper’s receptionist, claiming she doesn’t like hussies around the boss. I only smile at his insult since I want to save my hostility for Dino.
The Reapers MC office doesn’t look like much from the street. I’d guess an accountant worked here, but apparently even vicious bikers want to play the respectable businessman role.
Opening the door, I find the hussy-hating receptionist along with Rafael and Dino.
“What took you so long?” Dino asks, acting like he needs to check me for injuries. “We thought maybe you were abducted.”
“I never once thought that,” Rafael says, smirking.
The receptionist glares at me, and I’m ready to inform her that I’m no hussy. Never once in my life had I minded lying. This time should be no sweat either. Before I give her a piece of my mind, she smiles for Rafael.
“Mister Johansson is ready for you.”
Following Rafael down a short hallway, I quickly glance back at Dino and find him looking at my ass. His lack of subtly returns me to high school where boys were still learning to be smooth.
“Knock it off,” I growl at him.
“No, ma’am.”
I want so badly to smack the shit out of him. Before I can go slap-happy on the bastard, we enter the back office. Grudgingly, I remind myself we’re working.
Cooper Johansson is the prettiest vicious biker I’ve ever seen. He gives us a dark frown, and I imagine him killing a man with his bare hands. I even find myself fantasizing about Dino receiving a beat down from this handsome young buck.
No deal, I immediately decide. When Dino’s ass is royally whooped, my boot will be the one having the pleasure.
Rafael does a quick introduction. He says the dark-haired chick in the corner is Cooper’s assistant. Tawny looks young and impressionable. I worry about Dino humping her leg, but he takes one look and shrugs.
“Wedding ring,” he says to me.
“If not, you’d be all over that, right?”
“No, I’m committed to you, Miss Apples.”
Glaring hard at him, I nearly miss the part where we’re sitting down and talking business.
“These two will stick out like sore thumbs in Common Bend,” Cooper says to Rafael.
“Isn’t that the point?”
Cooper shrugs, focusing his dark gaze on Dino. The horndog leans back in his chair and glances around.
“Do you guys have good spaghetti around here?”
Rafael gestures for Cooper to focus on the job since Dino clearly isn’t.
“Our territory runs into Northern Tennessee, just before you reach Nashville,” Cooper says, and I wonder if I should take notes. “We’ve never had problems down that way until recently. Now all my people are ending up dead, missing, or in jail on petty charges. I found out a new sheriff named Black has taken over Common Bend.”
Rafael glances at an uninterested Dino before focusing on me. “What Cooper needs is for you to find out if the sheriff is dirty or just a Dudley Do-Right.”
“What if we find out he’s clean?” I ask, feeling very female in a room with too many large men. Tawny, at least, has the benefit of disappearing into the corner near the filing cabinet. “I’m not killing a goody-two-shoes cop.”
“I’ll do it,” Dino blurts out. “Cops bug me.”
Cooper frowns at Dino. “You’re only going down there to find out what his deal is. If he’s dirty, I want to know if he’s working alone or who his allies are.”
“So no killing?” I ask rather than calling bullshit on this entire meeting. “Why not use local people?”