Precarious(37)

“Nice to see you again, Maddox.”

From this angle, with him looming over me, he reminds me somewhat of Heathcliff from that remake of Wuthering Heights in 1992. He’s got that long, thick dark hair and the lightest blue eyes. He’s so broody, so scarily stunning. When he smiles, it’s like a lion baring its teeth before making a kill.

“I see you’re fittin’ in just fine. You got information for me?”

I ignore him, staring at his thick legs. “How are your balls?”

He snorts. “Workin’ just fine.”

“Shame.”

The girl, who I’m assuming is Santana, appears beside him. I look up at her, and wow, up close she’s absolutely gorgeous. Her eyes are so dark brown they almost look black. She’s like a new-age Pocahontas. Her eyes meet mine and she gives me a warm, welcoming smile that surprises me.

“Hi,” she says, and her voice is like melted honey or something. Jesus. No wonder Maddox is hung up on her. “I’m Santana.”

I stretch my hand out, taking hers. “Ash.”

“Ash is short for . . .”

“Just Ash.” I smile. “I know, it’s strange but my parents liked it.”

She flashes me a smile that brings up two dimples in her cheeks. “I like it, too.”

“Well, you girls can go ahead and get comfortable, because I got shit to do,” Maddox says, stepping past me. “San, we gotta talk about last night.”

He doesn’t look at her as he speaks, but she glares at his back as he passes. “No thanks.”

He stops and turns, glaring at her. “Do as you’re fuckin’ told.”

I turn and look up at Maddox. “Someone is broody today. Go sort your ‘shit’ out. We’re going to get to know each other.”

I stand and take Santana’s hand, dragging her off before he can say any more. We pass all the bikers as we walk down towards the back lot of trees. I notice some of the bikers have girls on their bikes. Some, I assume are old ladies, others I’m assuming are whores.

“Thanks for that,” Santana says as we reach the trees.

I wave a hand. “No problems. He’s a jerk-off.”

She laughs. “He can be hard to live with. Did Krypt tell you what happened with me?”

I nod. “I hope that’s okay? He just gave me a brief run-down.”

She shrugs, reaching up and tying her hair into a loose ponytail. “It’s no biggie. Most people hear the story. I don’t really have anything else, and getting a job is hard with no skill, so Maddox and the club is all I have.”

“Krypt says it gets tough with Maddox?” I ask, finding a rock and perching on it.

She nods, sighing. “He’s so controlling.”

“It sounds like he’s hard because he cares.”

She snorts. “I’ve seen Maddox with that many girls, it’s not even funny. He doesn’t care about me; he just likes the control that I allow him to have. My own stupid fault really.”

“You’re probably right.” I laugh. “I’m just glad to have another female here that isn’t pinned underneath a biker.”

She grins at me. “Tell me about it.”

We spend the next hour talking, and it warms me to know I have someone else like me around. I don’t honestly know how long I’ll be here, but knowing I have the chance to make a friend out of Santana is enough to keep me at ease.

We just don’t know when the next move will be made, or what kind of affect it will have.

And that scares me.





CHAPTER TEN


TRISTAN


I pace up and down the small length of the office, my hands pressed behind my back, my mind spinning. This all went wrong. It didn’t go to plan, and now everything is fucked up. Ash is missing, and no doubt has every intention of revealing anything she knows when she comes back. I knew I should have never let her near Dawson; it was a stupid move on my behalf.

I won’t make that kind of mistake again.

“I’m late, I know.”

I turn to see Officer Davies entering the room. I call him that here, but to me he’s just Dan. Dan Davies. Criminal. Police officer. The kind of man people fear. He’s tall, over six foot, and is as broad as a linebacker. His powerful frame and deadly cold eyes make him a fantastic cop, a fantastic corrupt cop.

He’s been a part of this from the start. He’s been friends with Howard from the Tinman’s Soldiers MC since they were just kids. It’s an operation so big, so deadly, that they have cops running against cops, guards gone wrong and people on the inside in places they shouldn’t be. Tinman’s Soldiers is a lethal club, and shit is about to get worse.

“I don’t have time to fuck around in here,” I mutter, running my hands through my hair. “We need to sort this shit out.”