Licking droplets of beer from her lips, she turned toward him, warmed by his smile. Locks of brown hair fell across his forehead, his blue eyes drinking her in. If not for the scar running on the left side of his face, he’d be perfect.
“I came to see Cash,” she said, close to his ear, still shouting over the din of the crowd. “And you.”
Stretch’s disapproval at her answer didn’t bode well, but Fee preferred a clean break. Waiting to hear from them wore on her.
Tapping his fingers on the bar, Stretch searched her face. “Potter, give me a beer. Call me when it settles down in here,” he instructed the man after he got his drink. “Come on.”
He clutched her elbow and helped her off the stool, waiting until she grabbed her nearly empty bottle of beer. His uneven gait slowed their progress, but he got them to Cash’s table.
“Cash,” Stretch called.
Grinning, Cash lifted his head from between the breasts of a girl with white-blonde hair. He caught Fee’s gaze, his smile fading away, replaced with an intensity that both drew and repelled. He shot to his feet, his intentions to go to Fee quite clear, but the naked, blonde girl stopped him.
She grabbed his hand, using it to cover one of her breasts. Laying her hand over his, she squeezed.
Cash removed her hand and pointed to Fee, glaring at Stretch. “Get her out of here.”
“I’m trying to, Cash,” Stretch argued. “That’s why I’m bringing her to my room.”
“Stretch…” Cash began in warning tones.
“What do you want me to do? Leave her on her own?”
“Come on, Ghost,” the girl pouted. “I want to fuck you.”
As Fee wrestled her jealousy, Stretch dragged her down the hall, going in the opposite direction of Christopher’s office and the board room, both doors closed. Stretch rounded another corner, passing an additional hallway. At the end, he hooked a right a final time, approaching the last door on the left. There, he unlocked both the knob and a deadbolt, stepping aside so Fee could enter, then flipping on the light and slamming the door closed.
Gasping, she widened her eyes, taking in the bed and nightstand, and a cattycornered chest of drawers. But the bank of monitors on one wall and three picnic tables holding computers and other gadgets that Fee couldn’t identify captured her attention.
“What’s all this?”
Stretch dug in his cut for a cigarette. “Mission control.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ha ha. Very funny.”
Limping to his nightstand, he got a lighter and lit his cigarette, then grinned at her. “It’s my mission control, Fee. This is where I track Meggie and the kids and where I watch over the club when I’m not on gate duty.” He pointed to the top row of monitors, offering an amateur porn show, thanks to the connected camera overlooking the pool tables. The girl who’d been spread out earlier now fucked two bikers. “I can see almost every angle of the common room if I choose.”
She rocked on her heels and sipped her beer, wondering if she should ask to turn on the monitor that covered Christopher’s usual table, the one where Cash sat at tonight.
“There’s a bank of monitors behind the bar,” she said, instead of making such an insane request. She wasn’t a glutton for punishment.
Stretch alternated between his cigarette and his beer, studying her. Setting his bottle on the nightstand, he picked up a remote. Two of the monitors flared to life, while the top one that overlooked the pool area, changed. Fee took in each of the three monitors and her mouth dropped open. Even before she saw Meggie heading towards CJ’s room, Fee recognized the wooden floors.
“That’s Christopher’s house!”
He nodded. “Every room, except the bedrooms, are monitored,” he explained. “Footage is recorded. In case someone ever gets in my room, they’d see the club if they turned on the monitors. Without special codes, they can’t see inside Outlaw’s house.”
“But…why?”
“You really have to ask me that?” he snorted, finishing his cigarette and throwing it on the ground to stomp it out. “Meggie, of course. After the last attack the night of Ryder’s birth, Outlaw takes no chances.”
“Wow.” She looked at the machine resembling an amplifier, where a pair of headphones rested on top. “What’s that?”
He made his way to her and fired up the computers, turning a few dials on the amplifier thing while he logged on. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he bumped her hip with his own. “Ready for this shit?”
She laughed. “Am I?”
He winked at her, melting Fee’s heart. “Who knows?”