“Not true, baby girl,” he whispered. Tears welled in my eyes, and I turned my head to face the wall.
Maverick clapped his hands. “Okay, well, this is all great news. But perhaps we can save the family drama for later. We were already indebted to Lexie for saving Tracker, and now that we know she’s our club princess, well, that’s even better. But now we need to understand what happened with the Diablos. And Sinner, if you can’t keep it together, I will put you on mute.”
I couldn’t help it. Laughter bubbled out of me until tears fell down my cheeks.Put him on mute. Jesus.
I wiped my tears and took a deep breath, feeling more like myself again. I’d needed that. Maverick offered me a small smile. “Go on, darling.”
Bear made one of his growly noises. Did he not like Mav calling me darling? Was I back to being more than the caterer? Ugh, I couldn’t deal with the back-and-forth right now. I cleared my throat. Time to get this over with.
“I got a call yesterday from a new client. Because it was with another MC, I figured they were friends of yours. I accepted the job and took down all the details. After I hung up, I realized I got myself into a bit of a pickle because my, uh, catering van, is still out of order.” I felt my cheeks flush and squirmed in my chair. Except I wasn’t in a chair, I was in Bear’s lap. And I felt something move. I squirmed again.
Bear’s arm tightened around my chest. “Careful,” he whispered.
Oh my.My face heated even more and I swallowed, trying to remember what I was supposed to be talking about.
Baller tapped his pencil on the table. “And then what? Did you call an Uber?”
“No. Well, I was going to, but Jordan called. He said he was checking on me. When I told him what was going on, he offered to be my driver.”
“Wait,” Mav interrupted. “Did you tell Jordan it was at another MC?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “And I told him you guys referred me. I think that’s why he offered to help.”
Bear snorted behind me. “Yeah, sure.”
Mav shook his head. “Prospect should know better than to go into another MC’s clubhouse.”
I shrugged. “Maybe he thought they were okay since you guys sent me there.”
Bear’s nostrils flared. “We didn’t send you there.”
“Okay, well I know that now. But not then.” I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see.
“And then what happened?” Mav asked.
“We went to the clubhouse and cooked. I was setting out the food when Bear called. And then Cyclops came in and...” I shuddered. “He, uh…” I dug my nails into Bear’s arm. “Made me sit with him while he ate. I think he had plans for… later.” I cleared my throat. “But Bear got there in time.”
“And I always will,” he added.
“What happened to Jordan?” Mav asked.
I shrugged. “I think he was being threatened when I was forced to go with Cyclops, but I didn’t see him after that. I hope he’s okay.”
The guilt was overwhelming. It was my fault he was even in the clubhouse, and now, well, I couldn’t even think about it.
“What was the clubhouse like?” Blade asked. “How many brothers did you see? Any surveillance?”
I scrunched my eyes, trying to remember. It had been at night, and I’d been mostly focused on the state of the kitchen.
“I counted ten in the main room,” Bear answered, taking the pressure off me.
“They asked me to cater for fifteen, so maybe the extra was for the girls?” I squeezed his hand in thanks.
Bear continued. “They had one other guy at the gate, but he might as well be a plastic dummy for how effective he was. The place was a shithole. No way they’d been living there longer than a few months.”
I sat up straighter. “Their kitchen was terrible, but it had the basics. I don’t know, maybe they were using their moms’ hand-me-down stuff. The guys I did see were a lot meaner lookingthan you guys. No one smiled, and I think their club girls were high. I didn’t even see them after the food was ready.”
Mav nodded. “Thanks, Lexie. That’s all for now. If you remember something, let your man know.”
