“I’m glad you’re feeling better, but that prick and what he did need to be put in the past. Let’s focus on the future.” Marx leaned back in the chair, and it creaked slightly from his weight.
All of these men were huge, scary, and didn’t take shit from anyone, that much was clear. It wasn’t just the bulk of denim and leather that they wore, but the strength and power that came from them.
“So, what are your plans after you get your money out of the bank?”
She looked at the clock. The bank wouldn’t open for another hour, and although she only had a few hundred dollars in there, she was glad she had at least been smart enough to start an account years ago. There wasn’t much money in it, because anything she had earned had gone to support her, and her brother when he had been alive. “I don’t know honestly. All I know is I want to get as far away from Fairview as I can with what little money I have.”
Marx glanced at Malice, and she watched some kind of silent communication going on between them. She had heard a small bit of conversation where she pieced together that Malice and a few other men had come up here from Colorado to take care of some kind of business. What that business was clearly wasn't known to her, and Adrianna didn’t know if she even wanted to know. There was a banging noise that came from the other side of the clubhouse house in one of the backrooms. She glanced down the hallway at where the sound came from, but Marx speaking again drew her attention.
“And how much are we talking about that you have to work with?” Marx asked.
“Not a lot, less than five hundred dollars, but that’s enough to get me a good distance away.” At least she hoped. She had no clue what the cost of a bus ticket would be, but surely it wouldn’t be that expensive, especially given the fact it was one-way.
Marx started tapping his fingers on the table. “You have any skills?”
“Skills?”
“No.” Everyone turned and stared at Malice. He had said that one word so forcefully that her heart started beating faster because of it.
“No what?” Marx leaned forward and braced his arms on the table as he addressed Malice.
“You know exactly what I am refusing, Marx.” The two men stared at each other for several seconds after Malice spoke.
“The way I see it we put her up for a whole night, gave her some of our narcotics, and had to make a call into the doc to come and check her out. I think we are owed.”
Adrianna felt this frigid blast slam into her, and she realized it came from Malice. She had no clue what was happening, but she didn’t want these guys fighting over her. “I can pay you for letting me stay here.” Even though she had little to her name, they had helped her, and she knew better than anyone that things in this world didn’t come for free.
“Honey, this club makes money a different kind of way,” Marx said and grinned at her.
“I said no,” Malice said again, but this time it was harder, and fiercer.
Marx held up his hands in surrender. “All right, all right. No need to get possessive, Malice. I was just putting that option on the table.” He looked over at her, braced his hands on the table, and then pushed himself up so he was standing. “I was only teasing you about paying, honey.” He looked over at Malice. “Everything’s all good, brother.” There was a tense moment that passed, and then Malice nodded and seemed to relax marginally. “You’re taking the shipment with you at nightfall?”
Malice nodded, and Marx grunted in response.
“We’ll keep shit on the quiet while everything is getting set up. No need to alert the cult fanatics to what’s going on. They’ll have their signs and be shouting that we are cruel and immoral motherfuckers.” He glanced at Adrianna, winked, and turned to leave. The other man that had been sitting beside him got up and left, too.
They left out of the front, and then it was just her, Malice, and the two bikers that she knew were with him. The silence stretched on, and finally she spoke. “I’m sorry if I caused any problems.” Marx might have acted like he was teasing, but Adrianna knew that Malice hadn’t liked whatever he had been getting at.
Malice said something low to the men sitting beside him, and a second later they rose and disappeared down the back hall where she had heard the noise come from. Keeping her gaze locked on them, she watched as they pushed a door open, and she swore she heard women talking. She felt the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, and she turned to see Malice staring at her. She didn’t know why she had felt that way just then, because it wasn’t like there weren’t women walking around in barely there clothing and cleaning up, but something about the women she had heard in the back made her a bit unsettled.